Will Russian embassy’s street in Budapest be named after Alexei Navalny?

Alexei Navalny

That is what the former presidential candidate of the opposition parties, a jurist and university professor, László Majtényi proposed after the alleged death of Putin’s biggest adversary, Alexei Navalny.

“Alleged” because even his wife and mother do not want to believe that Alexei Navalny is dead. The world was informed of the Russian opposition leader’s death yesterday evening by the Russian prison authorities.

The Hungarian government parties have not yet reacted, and we do not believe they will do so.

Leftist opposition parties expressed their grief, indignation, and shock one after the other.

Anna Donáth, the chairwoman of the second biggest leftist opposition party, the Momentum Movement, said she ran out of words. She added nobody could terrify him, and he was the victim of a show trial and unbearable prison conditions. She highlighted his murderer is illiberal Russia, referring to Orbán’s illiberalism, a category the Hungarian prime minister talked about first in 2015 and defined his government as illiberal.

Former PM Ferenc Gyurcsány, the leader of the most supported Hungarian opposition party, the Democratic Coalition, wrote that he shook hands with a murderer since Putin has become one. He added it was shameful that the Hungarian government became an ally of that monster.

Navalny Street in Budapest would not be exceptional

László Majtényi, a former presidential candidate of the leftist opposition in 2017, said Budapest should rename a section of Bajza Street between the Aradi and Andrássy Streets after Navalny, telex.hu wrote.

The street is in the 6th district, which has opposition leadership. The mayor is Tamás Soproni, a former leader of Momentum.

In 2021, Gergely Karácsony, the lord mayor of Budapest, and Krisztina Baranyi, the mayor of the 9th district, renamed several streets around the territory of the planned Fudan University in the 9th district. As a result, the new Fudan Campus’s address would have been the Avenue of Uyghur Martyrs 2. But several other street names were created like Free Hong Kong, Bishop Xie Shiguang and Dalai Lama.

Following some good-sounding grandiose announcements, the Fudan project halted, but the street names remained.

Therefore, the leader of the 6th district has every right to make the Russian Embassy’s address Navalny Street 2 in Budapest.

Of course, there is no telling what consequences such a move would have.

Read also:

  • Hungarian government does not see Russia as a security threat to any NATO member – Read more HERE
  • Putin about Hungarian re-annexation of Ukraine’s Transcarpathia in Tucker Carlson-interview – Details in THIS article

Opposition wants answers from those ‘actually responsible’ for paedophile pardon

donáth anna protest momentum

Anna Donáth, head of opposition Momentum, demanded answers from “those who are actually responsible” for the affair around a presidential pardon granted to the deputy director of a children’s home who was found complicit in child abuse, at a demonstration in Budapest on Wednesday.

In her speech at the demonstration in front of the Castle District premises of the Prime Minister’s Office, Donáth said “the system has failed from a moral standpoint”, accusing the government of ignoring the protection of children. She said no responsibility had been taken in connection with the presidential pardon, adding that what had been done “is a sin, rather than a mistake”.

She said demonstrations had to be held “until those actually responsible take responsibility” and until an explanation was given and the victims received an apology.

András Fekete-Győr, a Momentum lawmaker, said “Orban’s regime has fallen into a moral and political crisis”.

Fekete-Győr said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Chief Public Prosecutor Péter Polt were threatening him with prison “in a show trial”, adding that this did not discourage him, but confirmed that he was on “the right track”.

He said President Katalin Novak and former justice minister Judit Varga had both resigned “but didn’t take responsibility”. “They didn’t make a sincere apology or reveal who was involved in this obscenity,” Fekete-Győr said, adding that their resignation was “but a moral minimum”.

Independent MP Ákos Hadházy, Péter Juhász, a mayoral candidate for Budapest’s 5th district backed by Momentum, and Momentum lawmaker Dávid Bedő also attended the protest.

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Former Momentum head guilty of assault on officer

fekete győr andrás momentum

A Budapest appeals court has found András Fekete-Győr, the former head of the Momentum party, guilty of assault against persons in official capacity, the court said on Monday.

According to the charges, Fekete-Győr acted as an accomplice of Koppány Bendegúz Szarvas on 13 December 2018, when they threw smoke bombs at police during a demonstration in Kossuth Square. The court sentenced Fekete-Győr to 1 year in prison, suspended for 2 years.

The court saw Fekete-Győr’s clean records, as well as the fact that he had acted as an accomplice, as mitigating circumstances, spokesman József Tamás Szabó said.

Szarvas, the primary defendant, had been accused of assaulting officers on two consecutive days, 12 and 13 December, and sentenced to 2 years in prison, suspended for 3 years.

Fekete has appealed the sentence. The primary defendant and the prosecution are mulling the same, and so the procedure is set to continue at the third-instance court, Szabó said.

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Momentum Movement: Hungarian government “doesn’t really care about children”

Hungarian government "doesn't really care about children"

The government “doesn’t really care about children”, Anna Donáth, the leader of the opposition Momentum Movement, told protesters gathered in front of the presidential Sándor Palace in Budapest on Saturday, adding that “for them the family is just an empty phrase”.

Donáth said society needed “strong female role models, but not like Katalin Novak,” who, she added, was resigning as head of state “but not for reasons of conscience”.

The Momentum politician said Novak “should have apologised to the children abused in Bicske”.

She also said the government only saw people as voters, adding that Prime Minister Viktor Orban also bore responsibility for the developments surrounding the case, she said.

Read also:

  • Hungarian President resigns after pardoning paedophile helper – Read more HERE
  • End of an era? Former minister’s ex-husband turns against PM Orbán: they only want wealth – Details in THIS article

Hungary outraged: President Novák pardons helper of paedophile

year of movement sports novák

On Sunday, the Jobbik-Conservatives opposition urged President Katalin Novák to step down in light of her controversial decision to pardon the former deputy director of a children’s home in Bicske, who had been convicted of aiding in paedophile crimes. Momentum Movement party members have also joined the chorus, demanding the immediate resignation of Hungary’s President.

Paedophile scandal unveiled

The scandalous revelation surrounding President Katalin Novák emerged on Friday, as reported by 444. It was disclosed that Novák had granted a presidential pardon to the deputy director, Endre K., of the children’s home in Bicske. Endre K. had received a 3-year, 4-month prison sentence for being an accomplice to the paedophile director. Shockingly, he had also attempted to coerce the children into retracting their complaints. Sources revealed that the director had subjected at least ten boys in his care to years of abuse, forcing them into oral sex.

Momentum Movement’s firm response

As detailed by HVG, politicians and activists from the Momentum Movement took a bold stance by dismantling cordons in front of the Carmelita and relocating them to the Sándor Palace. Placing a sign that read “Pedophile defender Katalin Novák” in front of the President’s office, Momentum‘s president, Anna Donáth, unequivocally called for Novák’s immediate resignation, stating:
“This decision shows that the President of the Republic has no conscience, no sense of common sense and no decency.”
In response to the recent events, Momentum is actively preparing a resolution and has initiated a petition. A demonstration in front of the Sándor Palace is scheduled for next week. Momentum MP Anna Orosz emphasised, “Katalin Novák has lost whatever dignity she had left in her role as president of the republic.”

 

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Jobbik-Conservatives react

Koloman Brenner, the Budapest mayoral candidate for the Jobbik-Conservatives, declared at a press conference that members of their parliamentary group have urged Novák to step down. Brenner invited all lawmakers to support this initiative. Brenner also stressed:

Hungary is in dire need of a president elected directly by the people, who do not execute party orders… but indeed represents the unity of the nation and grants presidential pardons only in cases with serious moral or political reasons.

Deputy party leader Anita Kőrösi revealed at the conference that residents of the Bicske children’s home had endured years of sexual molestation by the director. The deputy director, who was granted a presidential pardon last April, “had assisted to this and wanted to persuade children to sign fake documents”, she added. Kőrösi demanded Novák withdraw the presidential pardon, insisting the deputy director serve his sentence.

 

New chairwoman leads Hungary’s second biggest leftist party

Leftist opposition party Momentum has new leader

The Momentum party assembly elected MEP Anna Donáth head of the party on Sunday.

In her speech to the assembly, Donáth said Momentum was a “liberal, freedom-loving party with an unshakeable belief in human dignity.” She said she was proud to lead Momentum, “a community ready to serve and to stand up to those wanting to rule others, to corruption.”

“We have the task of bursting the populists’ balloon.”

Regarding the local and European parliamentary elections in 2024, Donáth said Momentum would support all “acceptable” joint opposition candidates and propose a primary election where there is no agreement.

She said she was initiating talks with the opposition parties.

Read also:

  • Hungarian leftist opposition supports infringement of the rights of Hungarian students, researchers and professors? – Read more HERE

Hungarian leftist opposition supports infringement of the rights of Hungarian students, researchers and professors?

Graduation University Higher Education

Fidesz politicians have called on Tamás Soproni, the mayor of Budapest’s 6th district, to openly back or reject his Momentum party’s stance on European Union funding for higher education and research programmes.

MEP Tamás Deutsch and Balázs Norbert Kovács, the head of Fidesz’s 6th district division, said in an open letter on Sunday that, “at the shameful initiative of Momentum MEPs Anna Donáth and Katalin Cseh”, the leftist majority of the European Parliament decided to “uphold the unlawful infringement of the rights of Hungarian students, researchers and professors” as they remain excluded from EU higher education and research development programmes.

Soproni, the only Momentum member serving as a mayor and a member of the party board, should make it clear whether he stands by the “shameful and gravely discriminative stance” or rejects it, Deutsch and Kovács said.

Read also:

  • Erasmus program in Hungary saved? Unexpected help from the European Parliament – Read more HERE
  • Budapest voted one of the best cities in the world, ahead of Dubai!

They also called on Soproni to forego “parroting … dollar left mantras” on concerns about the rule of law. “Supposing but not allowing that those concerns were based on fact, stripping Hungarian students, professors and researchers of participation in the Erasmus+ and Horizon programmes remains unlawful,” the open letter said.

Re-nomination of Budapest mayor to be supported in 2024

ferenc gelencsér gergely karácsony anna donáth

Opposition Momentum will support the re-nomination of Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony for the post in the 2024 municipal elections, the party’s leader said on Thursday.

The mayor is running Budapest against “a massive counteroffensive” by the government which wants “to destroy” the city, Ferenc Gelencsér told an online press conference. “But Budapest is still standing, it is functioning and prospering,” he said. “It does not matter how the state party [Fidesz], or its actual proxy organisation — this time Mi Hazánk — seeks to change the election law. Budapest is a free city and will remain so.”

Gelencsér, who is Momentum’s group leader in the national assembly, said his party was ready for a compromise, adding that it was also ready to back the nomination of candidates on a joint list in constituencies where the opposition stood a good chance to win.

Momentum MEP Anna Donáth said her party and the mayor shared two fundamental values, namely liberalism and green thinking. “Our support behind Gergely Karácsony is a natural continuation of a values-based cooperation, not the result of back-door deals,” she said.

Thanking Momentum’s backing, the mayor said it was about a mutual support, adding that he could always count on the party’s councillors “in fights” over the past four years.

Karácsony called Momentum an important partner in the Budapest assembly’s coalition, adding that in most strategic issues the party “was a bit closer” to his “will” than any other parties.

Read also:

PHOTOS: commemoration held for victims of violence against women in Budapest

Commemoration violence against women Budapest

Opposition party Momentum and women’s NGOs held a commemoration in front of the prime minister’s office in Budapest on Saturday marking the international day for the elimination of violence against women.

Opposition MEP Katalin Cseh asked the government to tighten social distancing rules and launch a campaign to draw attention to this serious problem, while noting that on average one woman dies per week in Hungary due to a violent crime, Momentum told MTI in a statement.

Momentum head Ferenc Gelencsér, and MPs Anna Orosz and Éva Sebők also spoke at the commemoration, saying they had submitted two resolution proposals to Parliament for the protection of women. The proposals ask the government to take decisive and effective action against forms of violence that typically or exclusively affect women.

In response to the commemoration, the Government Information Centre (KTK) said violence against women is on the rise due to the pro-immigration policies of Brussels and the parties on the left.

KTK said in a statement that “today those are demonstrating in front of the Carmelite Monastery, who vote for everything in Brussels to flood Europe with migrants,” and added that Cseh herself supported all proposals from Brussels to settle migrants.

KTK said “in Europe, Hungary is the only country where people are asked what they think about Brussels’ pro-immigration policy and the fact that they want to create migrant ghettos in our country as well”. Here are some photos:

Fidesz MEP calls for standing up for abused women

Fidesz MEP Lívia Járóka has called for paying increased attention to violence against women and helping the victims in the European Union through a comprehensive regulations and national programmes.

Járóka submitted written remarks to an EP session commemorating the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, to which United Nations dedicated November 25 in 1999.

Járóka said “instead of empty words and forcing the ratification of the failed Istanbul Convention”, central and regional programmes and united social actions were needed for preventing violence against women.

“One in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15. This figure is estimated to be double that among Roma women and girls,” said Járóka.

She called the situation particularly “worrisome”, insisting that “data prove that the situation and social status of women in most countries that have ratified the Istanbul Convention has only become worse”.

Járóka called it the right decision by Hungary and Czechia not to ratify the convention, arguing that those countries could now create “strong national guarantees for the protection of women’s rights and dignity”.

Read also:

Here is the Great Agreement? This is how opposition wants to defeat Orbán in Budapest

Former PM Ferenc Gyurcsány (Copy)

The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), Socialist and Párbeszéd parties have concluded cooperation agreements for next year’s municipal elections, the parties said in a joint statement on Thursday.

The pact between former PM Gyurcsány’s DK and Párbeszéd covering the whole country includes jointly re-nominating Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony and all of the two parties’ incumbent mayors. It is also for fielding mayoral candidates on a joint list in localities and in Budapest districts currently governed by mayors of co-ruling Fidesz and Christian Democrats.

Under the DK-Socialists agreement, the parties will re-nominate their incumbent mayors serving across the country and field mayoral candidates in non-opposition led districts in Budapest and in several localities.

The question is whether this deal will be enough to defeat Orbán’s candidates in the 2024 municipal elections, especially in Budapest. Momentum Movement, having many supporters in the capital and one mayor in the downtown’s 6th district, is not part of the deal. In Zugló (14th district), for example, they already announced they would not support Csaba Horváth, the Socialists’ incumbent mayor. In 2021-2022, they did not support the previous Socialist MP, Csaba Molnár, and Ákos Hadházy defeated him brutally in the primaries.

Furthermore, there are multiple Budapest districts, where Momentum and DK or the Socialists have a mayoral candidate. One example is Budapest’s 21st district, where the DK and the Momentum claim their candidate is the joint opposition candidate. Maybe a primary will decide about their fate.

Read also:

  • PM Orbán wants to remain in power for much longer than he previously said – Read more HERE
  • Toiletgate broke out in Budapest: preparation for the 2024 elections? – Details in THIS article

Hungarian MEPs address EP debate on amendment proposals to EU treaties

eu hungary flag

László Trócsányi, an MEP of ruling Fidesz, argued against “reducing the powers of small and medium-sized member states” while opposition MEP Katalin Cseh supported changes to EU treaties to allow faster decision-making, in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

The two Hungarian MEPs addressed a debate held at the European Parliament’s plenary session on proposals for the amendment of the EU treaties.

At the debate, Maros Sefcovic, EC Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations, highlighted further enlargement as the next major political priority for the European Union, calling for an assessment of the reforms needed for the EU to prepare for the next round of enlargement.

In his address, Trócsányi said that most of the proposals “would expand the powers of the European institutions, above all that of the European Parliament, while curbing the powers of the small and medium-sized member states”. He said Hungary’s firm position was that European integration could only be successful if the bloc acted “with the authorisation and control” of every member state, and “not the other way round”.

“Citizens of the member states want strong states and a strong Europe. By reducing the powers of the member states, we will ultimately weaken Europe as well,” Fidesz MEP and Trócsányi said.

Katalin Cseh, an MEP for Momentum, called for community-level action in tackling current challenges.

She supported changing the relevant provisions in EU treaties, saying that it would enable the community to make decisions faster with adequate funding from its own revenues, and to act as a united bloc on climate issues.

“The far-right advocating national sovereignty wants a weak Europe where citizens have no say in decision-making. We do not want such a Europe,” said Cseh.

As we wrote earlier, the biggest Hungarian leftist opposition parties turned against each other: ‘culture of lies’, details HERE.

Biggest Hungarian leftist opposition parties turned against each other: ‘culture of lies’

Anna Donáth Momentum Movement (Copy)

The opposition “must adopt a culture of truth”, Momentum MEP Anna Donáth said in a speech on Sunday, accusing fellow opposition party, the Democratic Coalition (DK), of entangling the opposition in “a culture of lies”.

In her speech streamed on Momentum’s Facebook page, Donáth said Momentum’s goal was to stand a joint opposition candidate against the Fidesz candidate in the 2024 local council elections in every municipality and district of Budapest. She said Momentum had always been open to cooperating locally.

Candidates who are credible to locals and have a chance of winning against Fidesz should be selected. They should also abide by a “culture of truth”, she said. If agreement cannot be reached on a joint candidate in a given locality, then a primary should be held, she added.

Donáth said the outcome of the EP election would be a good yardstick to judge which parties enjoyed real support.

“We must show that Momentum is the party that voters can have confidence in, that it won’t treat them as stupid; it will speak the truth and take responsibility for its actions. [Momentum] will, in other words, represent a culture of truth,” she said.

“We don’t want to dismantle opposition cooperation but to renew it,” she added.

She said the opposition had lacked credibility in the 2022 general election as voters did not believe the opposition would govern differently: they were accustomed “to politicians lying”, she insisted.

One reason why was down to the ruling Fidesz party, “which has spent huge amounts of money smearing the opposition … and the other is DK and its leader”, she said.

Viktor Orban, she said, had performed badly in the global economic environment and the prime minister had “knowingly lied” to voters about the real state of the economy.

“How credible is the opposition’s criticism of him if the same sentences can literally be said of DK’s leader?”

DK had “countless opportunities” to take responsibility for their past in government but they still campaigned “with lies and pretend to be infallible”.

“This culture of lies has kept Fidesz in power for 13 years…” Donáth said.

To change the government, “we must replace the opposition”, she said.

Read also:

  • 2024 to bring inevitable and brutal price hikes to Hungary – Read more HERE
  • PM Orbán wants to remain in power for much longer than he previously said

Hungarian radical party: dual citizenship kept secret presents national security risk

MPs should declare whether they hold the citizenship of another country besides their Hungarian one, opposition Mi Hazánk has said.

The asset declaration questionnaire could easily be expanded to include a related question on citizenship, Előd Novák, the radical party’s deputy leader, told a press conference on Tuesday, adding dual citizenship presented a national security risk, especially if it were kept a secret.

He said it was important to discover which MPs had obligations to foreign interests and whether they had an “escape route”.

Novák noted that in Israel, MPs must choose between their seat and dual citizenship.

The Mi Hazánk politician insisted that the deputy parliamentary group leader of rival opposition Momentum, Dávid Bedő, had kept his Swedish citizenship under wraps while also speaking up for Sweden in a recent interview.

Read also:

Unexpected: Fidesz’s support falls after a long time

Fidesz parliamentary group leader Máté Kocsis

According to the results of a representative opinion poll conducted by the IDEA Institute between 28 July and 9 August 2023, the popularity of the governing parties (Fidesz-KDNP) has declined slightly for the first time this year compared to the last survey period.

Despite a larger-than-usual shift, none of the opposition parties managed to increase their support. Thus, it is questionable how long the decline in support for the governing parties will prove to be lasting, napi.hu writes.

As the summer drew to a close, support for the governing parties fell below 30% again after a long period. At the beginning of August, 27 percent of adults would have voted for Fidesz-KDNP, a 3% drop in support for the party among the population as a whole and a 2% drop among those who were sure voters compared to the previous month.

If parliamentary elections had been held in Hungary in July 2023…

  • …the victory of Fidesz-KDNP would still not have been threatened by the opposition;
  • …the second strongest party, the Democratic Coalition (DK), would have won 12% of the total population. This would have meant a 20% share of the vote among the party voters who were certain to vote;
  • Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland), Momentum and most likely the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party would have crossed the 5% threshold.

The share of Fidesz-KDNP voters among the total population has fallen significantly, by around 8 percentage points since July 2022.

Read also:

Hungarian opposition calls for west-facing orientation

Gisela of Hungary and Stephen I

Opposition parties called on the government to strengthen European values and Hungary’s west-facing orientation on the national holiday of 20 August, named after state-founder king Saint Stephen.

The Democratic Coalition said in a statement that Hungarians had been a European nation ever since the founding of the state, yet currently “instead of our natural allies, only eastern dictators are willing to engage in dialogue with the Hungarian government”.

“When the Hungarian government is the only one in Europe that roots for Europe’s defeat in a war, we can be sure that they have let us down and our nation has been made to leave the path marked for us at the founding of our state,” it added.

Co-leader of the Socialists Ágnes Kunhalmi said in a statement that when Saint Stephen had chosen a west-facing orientation for Hungary, “he made the right decision because instead of building from the past, he chose the future”.

Contrary to this, Hungary’s current regime celebrates from Saint Stephen’s heritage only the power of the state and the inseparable relation of church and state, she said.

Párbeszéd said in a statement that commemorating the founding of the state should not involve “wasteful squandering of money, damaging the environment and health”. The party condemned the 20 August fireworks display, stating that “it is not fireworks that makes a nation great but the multitude of well-educated people”.

Momentum leader and group leader Ferenc Gelencsér said in a video message that it was Hungarians’ decision to belong to the west rather than the east made a thousand years ago which should be celebrated on 20 August. “What we celebrate is that our statehood links us to western democracies instead of eastern dictatorships,” he added.

Foundation headed by minister behind Chinese elite university in Budapest receives EUR millions

Foundation Chinese elite university

Hungary’s Minister of Culture János Csák heads the board of trustees of a foundation created to establish the campus of the Chinese Fudan University in Budapest. No track record of any work done by the foundation can be found, nevertheless it received a tremendous amount of aid from the state budget.

The Fudan Hungary Egyetemért Alapítvány (Foundation for the Fudan Hungary University) received four properties, HUF 600 million (EUR 1.5 mn) maintenance money and HUF 6 billion (EUR 15.66 mn) operation sum from the parliament’s Fidesz majority. But Márton Tompos, an MP of Momentum and Ágnes Vadai, an MP of DK, could not find any trace of their activities. They don’t even own the above-mentioned four properties. Moreover, they were supposed to submit their activity report by last December. However the Fidesz majority in the parliament postponed the deadline until 30 June 2024. That is three weeks after the EP and local government elections, 444.hu wrote.

The government said the Fudan University project is not on their schedule, but they transferred almost EUR 16 million to the foundation, which doesn’t even have an office. When RTL Klub sent an inquiry about the foundation to János Csák, Hungary’s minister for culture and the head of the foundation’s board of trustees, their request was left ignored and dismissed.

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Castle privatisation in Hungary: Opposition turns to OLAF

Edelény Caste Island

The opposition Momentum Movement is turning to the European Union’s anti-graft body (OLAF), asking for measures to stop the sale of state-owned, revamped Hungarian castles to private buyers.

Momentum politician János Stummer told a press conference on Friday that Fidesz had submitted a proposal to parliament that would “give the Fidesz elite the opportunity to acquire revamped castles in Hungary free of charge.”

Momentum earlier organised a series of petitions and demonstrations to save castles nationwide, Stummer said. Those buildings should be kept and operated by the state, in  projects benefitting taxpayers, he said.

Dávid Bedő, Momentum’s deputy parliamentary group leader, noted that 12 castles had been reconstructed using EU funds as well as government support. The EU contracts for such funding bar the government from privatising the buildings in question, and so Momentum is asking OLAF to review the draft legislation and “help us prevent this marauders’ privatisation,” he said.

We wrote about the new bill that would make buying castles easier for private individuals HERE.

Hungarian politician: Enlargement ‘in EU’s fundamental interest’

lőrinc nacsa kdnp

The European Union’s security, economic and political interests firmly hinge on integrating countries of the Western Balkans, a governing lawmaker told a European Parliament committee, arguing that enlargement would make the EU stronger, while each month of delay would enfeeble the bloc.

“Hungary finds it unacceptable that delays to the enlargement process may end up weakening the European Union,” Christian Democratic lawmaker Lőrinc Nacsa told MTI after attending the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET). “In times of war and amid the challenges of migration, the EU accession of Western Balkan countries is our primary interest, also from a security point of view.”

The party’s deputy group leader noted that ten years ago Croatia joined the EU, yet the bloc had shrunk by one member since then, which he called a “shameful record”.

Noting that he was among delegates from the foreign affairs committees of national parliaments attending the AFET meeting on Tuesday, he said the Hungarian parliament had sent experts to aid countries aspiring the join the bloc in fulfilling the necessary accession criteria while supporting their parliaments through various programmes both in the eastern and southern regions of Europe.

Nacsa said Hungary kept the issue of enlargement firmly on the EU’s agenda while promoting the Schengen accession of non-EU-member countries. Quickening the enlargement process and striving to prevent any further delays to Western Balkan integration were high Hungarian priorities, he added.

Fidesz MEP Gál Kinga in a statement criticised the annual report on Bosnia-Herzegovina approved by the EP’s foreign affairs committee at the meeting, saying that like most EP reports on Western Balkan countries, it rode roughshod over the complex problems of the region, and such reports only served to sharpen conflicts and instability there.

The Fidesz EP group leader accused “left liberals” of using the report to mount an ideologically based attack against Olivér Várhelyi, the commissioner for enlargement, which she said was “unacceptable”.

It “incomprehensible”, she added, that the report “also openly attacks Hungarian companies”, blaming Momentum Movement MEP Katalin Cseh for this. “It’s shocking that a Hungarian left-wing representative has attacked Hungarian companies operating in Bosnia-Herzegovina … baselessly confusing them with Chinese companies,” Gal said.