Former Communist state agent appointed to head Hungary’s Sovereignty Protection Research Institute?

Hungary’s Sovereignty Protection Office has set up a new Sovereignty Protection Research Institute. A Hungarian media outlet wrote that the director of the new institute is a former III/III agent.

Tamás Lánczi, the office’s head, has appointed retired Major General József Horváth to head the institute, the office said in a statement on Tuesday. Mr Horváth graduated in 1985 as a History, Hungarian Literature and Language teacher. He started to work for the Ministry of Internal Affairs after submitting his application to a job advertisement he read in a newspaper. Allegedly, he did not know the scheme was an experiment of the Communist state leadership to recruit new agents.

He worked for the ministry between 1986 and 1989 as a III/III agent. His task was to gather information against so-called Trotskyists, fake leftists, and former or active Communist party members. He continued his work after the Fall of Communism and became the deputy director of the National Security Service, 444.hu wrote.

Mr József Horváth:

The office needs to help preserving Hungary’s sovereignty

The research institute has been founded with the aim of compiling scientific analyses to assist the work of the office in identifying acts and attempted influence operations that threaten Hungary’s sovereignty.

“The Sovereignty Protection Office is tasked with ensuring that Hungary preserves its sovereignty, averts foreign interference attempts, identifies persons aiming to divert public discourse and using the public sphere to enforce their own interests,” it said.

It noted that Horváth had served in senior positions at national and military security offices between 1998 and 2013.

Justice minister: EU legislation ‘overgrown, brings lack of transparency’

The European Union’s legislation is “overgrown and results in a lack of transparency at the end of the day”, Justice Minister Bence Tuzson said in Bratislava on Tuesday, at the legal forum organised at the Comenius University.

Tuzson spoke at a panel discussion with the justice ministers of the Visegrád Group — Czechia, Poland and Slovakia — discussing the future of European legislation, legal competitiveness and legislative cooperation of the Visegrád Group.

Speaking to Hungarian media on the sidelines of the meeting, Tuzson said the Visegrád Group agreed that the EU should be focusing on economic issues and competitiveness. The Visegrád cooperation is also facing serious challenges, he added. He warned that the V4 should not be allowed to “fall apart on a political basis, we must not give up joint interests despite differences of opinion and must not allow others to drive a wedge between the countries.”

Surveys showed that Europe “is falling behind, or will fall behind China and even the United States.” The legislative process must be simplified so it helps preserve competitiveness, he said.

Arbitrary decision practices of the Court of Justice of the European Union?

The overgrown EU legislation had an impact on national legal systems and ultimately resulted in a lack of transparency, Tuzson said. Hungary has also started making its legal system transparent, it is developing a legal databank leaning on AI to make searches easier, he said.

Referring to the Draghi report on the EU’s competitiveness, Tuzson said the report “is raising problems we can agree with but we are not always on board with the solution. Hungary does not support dismantling the concept of the blocking minority, as such a measure would not resolve issues.”

Responding to questions on further challenges, Tuzson said “Hungary has first-hand experiences of the utterly arbitrary decision practices of the Court of Justice of the European Union.” The CJEU’s procedures were also lacking transparency, Tuzson said, pointing to the procedure leading to a 200 million euro fine imposed on Hungary. “That is unacceptable, and Hungary will take the necessary legal steps,” he added.

Read also:

• Orbán does not allow disclosure of the former Hungarian communist state agents – read more HERE