Hungary calls for stronger nation-state sovereignty in the EU, rejects treaty changes for political power shift

The purpose of European integration is not to abandon national self-determination and independence but to strengthen nation-states, Barna Pál Zsigmond, a government official, said at a meeting of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs (COSAC) in Budapest on Monday.

The EU is lagging behind its global competitors, and the Hungarian EU presidency wants to promote higher productivity and growth in the bloc, Pál Zsigmond Barna, parliamentary state secretary of EU affairs, said.

Priorities enumerated by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán include adopting a new European competitiveness pact, fortifying defence policy and running a merit-based enlargement policy. Hungary also wants to curb illegal migration, introduce a farmer-centric EU agricultural policy and address demographic challenges, he said.

“Twenty years ago, we felt Hungary’s EU membership was a historic success based on a national consensus, and notwithstanding current difficulties, we still feel the same today,” he said. “But now it’s more and more the case that a centralised and politicised institutional system is spreading over member states.”

He said Brussels bodies were clinching powers at the expense of nation-states and national parliaments, combining this with ideological pressure. He further slammed the European Commission for becoming more and more politicised. He argued that geopolitical challenges should not be an excuse for the commission to go it alone or “launch campaigns against individual member states citing common values”.