Hungarian government triggering crisis?
Opposition Momentum on Friday slammed the government over the amendments it has submitted to the 2023 central budget, saying that next year’s budget will be one “triggering, not managing a crisis”.
Next year’s amended budget envisages GDP growth of 1.5 percent, a declining budget deficit and falling public debt, the finance ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Momentum in response said the budget is not sufficient in tackling the deepening economic crisis and stopping the deterioration in the standard of living of Hungarians and the inflation triggered by price caps. “This budget will be one of austerities and uncertainty,” the party said, adding that it contained target figures that could not be kept.
“And because of the mistaken government measures, the standard of living of Hungarian families will further deteriorate and the situation of SMEs and municipalities will become more critical,” the party said, demanding that the “irresponsible and corrupt” government “should face up reality and tell people the truth”.
Read alsoEvidence found about an illegal Chinese police station in Budapest
Hungarians face a dilemma whether to heat or buy food?
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “has lost control over what happens in Hungary”, a member of the opposition Democratic Coalition said on Wednesday, insisting that the prime minister “didn’t touch on people’s everyday problems” in his international press briefing earlier in the day “because he cannot resolve them”.
Csaba Molnár said the prime minister had made it clear in his presser that “the country cannot expect the government to make a turnaround”, adding that “policies of the past 12 years, which have destroyed the country … will stay”. “As long as Orbán stays, the crisis will stay and the longer he stays the bigger the problem will grow,” he insisted.
Conservative Jobbik insisted that “it was the Orbán government the made 2022 the most difficult year for Hungary since the political regime change” of 1989. The prime minister’s presser “has projected what we can expect in 2023: lies, even more lies, and no responsible government or decisions”, the party said in a statement. They insisted the government had failed to manage the crisis and its “ill-advised” economic policy had driven the country to the brink of bankruptcy, while Orban “pointed the finger at the war, the EP, and Brussels” in his press briefing.
They said the government had “bled people and businesses dry” by changing the small business tax, while people are “being destroyed through record-high VAT” and they “have to face the situation of wages and pensions being despicably low even in a regional comparison”.
The Momentum party said ruling Fidesz “even lied in the face of its own voters” and the government’s work had been “chaotic” in 2022. In his press briefing the prime minister had “blamed others and shunned responsibility for Hungary’s worst times in recent decades”. They said Orbán’s referring to “exceptional achievements” and not mentioning an economic and cost-of-living crisis hitting the country was “both shocking and desperate”.
Momentum pointed to the “price cap inflation” of food prices, soaring energy costs, and the weakness of the Hungarian currency and insisted that “many families will face a dilemma at the end of the month whether to heat their home or buy food”.
Orbán, Momentum said, could “only blame the sanctions he himself voted for, the minister he appointed, an economic system he introduced and the governor of the central bank chosen by his own party”.
Read alsoPHOTOS: Ukraine gets power generators from Hungary – UPDATED
Multinationals benefitting from Hungary-EU deal? – opposition reactions
“Multinational companies have scored a win yet again,” the deputy group leader of opposition LMP said on Tuesday, referring to an agreement between the Hungarian government and the European Union on the proposed global minimum tax.
The compromise reached “is one that large capitalists would be glad to see”, Mate Kanász-Nagy told a press conference, adding that thanks to Hungary’s exemption from applying the minimum tax, large corporates would also be exempted from paying higher corporation taxes. Hungary will “remain a tax haven”, and international companies will “pay less to employees than, for example, in Germany” and also enjoy the benefits of more lenient environmental rules, he said. Kanász-Nagy called for an “alternative” solution that supported small and medium-sized companies and the public sector.
Opposition on decision to approve Hungarian recovery plan
Hungarian opposition parties on Tuesday reacted to the proposal by EU member state ambassadors on approving Hungary’s recovery plan, which is expected to result in EU leaders unblocking of the country’s recovery funds. The Democratic Coalition insisted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had been dealt a big blow in Europe, having “failed” to immediately secure recovery funds, while a large portion of cohesion money had also been frozen despite Orbán having “caved” on the issue of the EU loan to Ukraine and the global minimum tax.
Momentum said Orbán bore sole responsibility for Hungary receiving less money from the EU, adding that more than 4,800 billion forints (EUR 11.7bn) in EU funding still hung in the balance. The Socialists said the risk that a large portion of catch-up funds would be withdrawn was ever present, and Orban had merely secured a reprieve and must show the government can comply with European norms. The budget, it added, would now have access to enough funding to stave off “an even bigger crisis”.
Jobbik said the government had “backed down” on EU support for Ukraine and the global minimum tax, and yet its single biggest duty to secure the funding to help Hungarian citizens had not been fulfilled. LMP said the decision of EU ambassadors was good for large European companies, given that Hungary has been exempted from applying the global minimum tax. “Hungary can remain a tax haven,” it added.
Read also Hungary won major battle in Brussels yesterday?
Budapest mayor welcomes agreement concerning EU funds
“We are glad that the European Union and the government have reached an agreement,” Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony told a press conference on Tuesday in reaction to news that Hungary’s EU recovery funding is likely to be unblocked. The government is “now obliged” to meet the community’s requirements before the funds can actually be accessed, the mayor added.
Karácsony said he was glad that Hungary would receive grants from the recovery fund, and urged the government that it should use the mechanism’s loan component, too. Money borrowed under the mechanism could be used in full to rebuild the country’s energy system, he added. Karácsony, who is co-leader of the Association of Hungarian Municipalities (MÖSZ), said the funds should also go to local councils, adding that “reducing Hungary’s dependence on Russian gas and completing a green transition could hardly be possible without changing municipal energy provision”.
Answering a question, Karácsony said “ideally” the recovery funds should be divided up equally between central investment projects, private investment projects, and municipal services.
Ujhelyi: EU protecting Hungarians’ interests against government
The European Commission has demonstrated that it can act in cooperation with EU member states against the government of a country to protect the interests of that country’s citizens from their government, opposition Socialist MEP István Ujhelyi said on Tuesday. Ujhelyi told an online press conference in Strasbourg that “notwithstanding the best efforts of the [Hungarian] propaganda machine, it is hard to present Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s retreat as a triumph when he has also been issued with an official document showing that [his government] violated the rule of law and abused EU resources.”
It is the first time in EU history that it is officially stated that a member state government severely violated the rule of law and consequently a part of its EU funding has been frozen, he said. “If ruling Fidesz does not implement the amendments to scale back its System of National Cooperation (NER) as promised, then Hungary could lose the 8,000 billion forints which is now frozen, including 4,800 billion euros non-refundable support, for good”, he said.
Ujhelyi said that Monday’s meeting also revealed that the Hungarian government had exploited the global minimum tax and support for Ukraine as “a means of blackmail and to thwart cooperation”.
Opposition party believes Orbán conducts an irrational war against Brussels
The opposition Párbeszéd party on Friday slammed government policy, saying the “irrational war with Brussels is threatening Hungary’s fundamental stability.”
Although the European Commission’s proposal to withhold funding worth 3000 billion forints (EUR 7.3bn) is “not necessarily equivalent to the scrapping of the funds”, the delay will cause “grave problems in the budget”, he said.
The approval of Hungary’s recovery plan means merely that the 2,000 billion forints allocated for the purpose “are not lost forever”. The proposal will have to be adopted by the member states at a meeting on Dec. 6, he added. That vote will come after decisions on two topics the Hungarian government has earlier threatened to veto, the aid to Ukraine and the matter of the corporate minimum tax, he said.
“If those mutual threats are be implemented, it will hurt Hungary immeasurably more,” he said.
Opposition parties slam Orban remarks on sanctions, energy supplies
Opposition parties have criticised Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s statements on European Union sanctions against Russia, energy supplies and aid for Ukraine, in his regular interview with public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió on Friday. Conservative Jobbik said that Orbán had “lost sight of reality”, noting that the prime minister had voted in favour of all sanctions against Russia in the EU. At the same time, Orbán failed to address the fact that Hungarian food price growth had outstripped all other European countries’ and that the forint had plunged into record depths in the autumn. The government “has cancelled the utility price cut scheme and is causing a shortage economy with its price caps harking back to the communist era,” the party said. Meanwhile, “Hungary and Hungarians are stripped of the EU monies they are entitled to, because of Viktor Orbán and his government,” Jobbik said.
Momentum leader Ferenc Gelencsér, reacting to Orban’s statement that “Hungarians have understood that, whether they like it or not, Ukraine needs support”, said Hungarian society had taken a “humane and fair” approach to Ukrainians and Transcarpathia Hungarians. “It was not the government but civil organisations, which the government has been persecuting for years, who took the lion’s share in helping people fleeing Ukraine and those staying in their homeland,” he said.
Read alsoEvidence found about an illegal Chinese police station in Budapest
LMP said that contrary to what Orbán said, Russian gas was not cheap and “the prime minister said himself that the long-term contract concluded with Russia last year was no guarantee for secure supplies.” The solution would be a green transition, the party said.
Ruling Fidesz responded by saying that “the pro-war and pro-sanction stance” of the left-wing opposition parties “threaten Hungary”. They would sacrifice Hungary’s security and energy supply in exchange for “rolling foreign dollars”, the party said in a statement. The left-wing parties continue to lobby for sanctions by Brussels which will destroy Europe and threaten the Hungarian economy and the livelihood of Hungarian families, it said.
Evidence found about an illegal Chinese police station in Budapest
BBC reported a couple of days ago that Dutch media found evidence the Chinese government established at least two undeclared “police stations” in the Netherlands. Seemingly, there is a similar police station or so-called police service centre in Budapest. One of the Hungarian opposition MPs learned more on the spot.
According to the BBC, “dutch media found evidence that the “overseas service stations”, which promise to provide diplomatic services, are being used to try to silence Chinese dissidents in Europe”. A Dutch foreign ministry spokeswoman said such operations are illegal in the country. Meanwhile, the Chinese foreign ministry rejected Dutch allegations.
Based on a report issued by the NGO Safeguard Defenders, the Chinese government established 54 illegal police stations in 21 countries. They call them police service centres, and most of them are in Europe. According to the list, one is in Budapest, and an opposition MP tried to find out more in the venue.
Márton Tompos (Momentum) went to the address in Kőbánya, the 10th district of Budapest. Later he found another address in Golgota Street (8th district) after reading some relevant articles in the Chinese media. He was astonished to see that there was even a sign on the building saying “Chinese police”. However, those signs disappeared after he started to ask around why they had been displayed in Budapest.
Read alsoChina: an alternative to EU money for Hungary?
Szeretlek Magyarország went there and found a Chinese man. He explained that a man helped Chinese nationals living in Hungary manage their administrative affairs there. For example, he acquired several certifications from China. Allegedly, he put out the “Chinese police” sign. However, somebody told him that was not allowed, so he left the place and replaced the signs.
There are several articles about the successes of the Chinese police station in Budapest. They even name the agents working there. For example, in 2019, Liu Guoyong, an agent of the “overseas police service centre” in Hungary, received an award from Mrs Zeng for solving a robbery case in Budapest.
Another article reported that the Budapest centre invited another group to the Hungarian capital to discuss “police and overseas Chinese affairs”.
A third Chinese article said that China had already established police service centres in 20 countries and 26 cities. They help Chinese citizens with travel and administration issues, but they even investigate crimes and offer help to maintain public security. The coordinative body is the Qingtian County Public Security Office. And one of the officers held a sign identical to what Márton Tompos found when he first visited the Golgota Street “police station”.
In the Netherlands, there is an ongoing investigation into the issue. They assume Beijing tries to track members of the opposition being abroad by using these centres. The Hungarian interior ministry said they did not have information about a Chinese police presence in Budapest.
Here is the video of Szeretlek Magyarország in the issue:
Read alsoHungarian OTP to establish a bank in China
Fidesz: Socialists, Liberals try to hunt down Hungary
The European Union has launched its European Action Plan to protect the European elections, fight the spread of false information and to protect media freedoms, Vera Jourova, EU commissioner for values and transparency, told a debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
Europe’s democracy must be protected from powers aiming to destroy it, the commissioner said, adding that the European Commission would propose a package next year aimed against those outside the bloc who finance mechanisms seen as dangerously manipulating the public.
Referring to the Ukraine war, Jourova said the conflict had benefitted not only the extreme right but the far left, too, and warned that political extremism could lead to violence. The European Commission will cooperate with member states to tackle risks posed by the far right, she said.
Balázs Hidvéghi, MEP of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz, said the debate reflected “the European Left’s ideological terror against all those that dare to disagree”. The debate shows “the hysterical and intolerant nature of the Socialist and Liberal Left trampling on democratic decisions … they openly disrespect the democratic decisions of the people and will launch attacks against the Italian and Swedish governments just as they are trying to hunt down Hungary,” he said.
Read alsoWeak forint: euroisation to come in Hungary
Klára Dobrev, MEP of the opposition Democratic Coalition, said the Hungarian government was “illiberal and far right”, which could not protect voters or come up with achievements because “they only have one skill: how to incite hatred”. “The far right must be defeated so that people could be ensured decent and free lives,” Dobrev added.
Opposition Momentum MEP Katalin Cseh mentioned, for example, recent protests in Hungary concerning education, and quoted the government as blaming “Brussels for all the problems”. “Similar lies are echoed in Hungary concerning the war in Ukraine and concerning all policies of the EU,” she said, adding that “these lies are working” because the EU “fails to give an adequate response”. “Such disinformation will have the EU rotting from inside,” she said.
Read alsoUS embassy slams Hungarian government in a hard-hitting video
Hungarian parliament to hold extraordinary session on Monday
The opposition parties have called an extraordinary session of parliament to discuss proposals regarding changes to the small business tax (kata), to be held on August 8.
The Momentum party said in a statement that the opposition called on parliament to withdraw the amendment to the kata tax, which limited the circle of SMEs entitled to use it. The opposition also called on government parties to adopt opposition proposals to aid people hit hard by the cost-of-living crisis in the country, Momentum said.
Read alsoOrbán meets Trump – photo gallery
At the same time, Fidesz parliamentary group leader Máté Kocsis “made it clear in advance that his party won’t attend the meeting, which showed that Fidesz do not care about the fate of Hungarians and Hungarian families,” the opposition statement said.
Should the meeting have quorum, the agenda will include abolishing utility fee raises, a home insulation programme, the food crisis, a climate pass to motivate motorists to change to public transport, and VAT cuts on certain essential products, proposed by the Socialists, Democratic Coalition, Párbeszéd, LMP and Jobbik parties.
Read alsoSocialist MEP accuses Hungarian govt of lying about teacher wage hikes
Hungarian opposition calls for special parliament session over ‘cost-of-living crisis’
Six opposition parliamentary groups have called for a special session of parliament to be convened on Aug. 8 to discuss their proposals to mitigate “the cost-of-living crisis” they say has gripped the country.
Representatives of Momentum, Democratic Coalition, Parbeszed, the Socialists, LMP, and Jobbik told a joint press conference about their bill to withdraw changes to the tax on small businesses (kata) and keep the full cap on household energy bills and the price of basic foodstuffs in place. Further, they propose VAT cuts, a public transport “climate pass” — a 5,000 forint monthly voucher to encourage car users to switch to public transport — and a nationwide home insulation programme.
Momentum’s Miklós Hajnal said the special session would present an opportunity to postpone any changes made to kata to next January to allow time for consultations with advocacy groups and to introduce any changes. Meanwhile, a looming “social crisis” in Hungary during “this age of austerity” would also require immediate action, he said, accusing the government of getting Hungarians “to pay for its wasteful spending during the elections and for its failed economic policy”.
Olga Kálmán of DK said the party called on the government to withdraw its “utility price rise” and draft regulations for “family-friendly, economically sustainable utility price cuts”. She accused Prime Minister Viktor Orban of “lying as he talked of protecting the utility price caps while raising prices and implementing the largest austerity package of all time.”
Párbeszéd group leader Bence Tordai said Hungary had been “hit by a brutal food crisis”, with skyrocketing prices and growing inflation. The party calls on the government to boost food self-sufficiency, reintroduce the strategic food reserves abolished in 2016, and to take steps to adapt to climate change, he said.
LMP proposed a “climate pass” for public transport to help those hit hard by rising fuel prices and to encourage motorists to use public transport.
Ágnes Kunhalmi of the Socialists said the party called for launching a home insulation programme as a means to ensure sustainable utility price cuts for families.
Jobbik called for VAT cuts on basic foodstuffs and products used mostly by families raising children. The government should also waive VAT on gas, electricity and firewood, parliamentary group leader László Lukács said.
Ruling Fidesz said in reaction that the left had “fallen apart” after the spring general election and were now “subserviently doing as they are told” by Democratic Coalition leader Ferenc Gyurcsany, “setting the stage for him”. Europe is suffering from the effects of the war in Ukraine and the related “sanctions imposed by Brussels”, including wartime inflation and a wartime economic and energy crisis, Fidesz said in a statement.
“If it were up to the left, this crisis would have swept Hungary away by now because the left wants to drag the country into war and make the people pay the price of the war,” the party said. The measures protecting Hungarian families from drastic price increases are unparalleled across Europe, Fidesz added.
Read alsoGovernment changes fuel purchase rules in Hungary from today – UPDATED
Opposition DK: Orbán’s Fidesz brought Hungary to ruin
The opposition parties said on Saturday that the government’s latest decision “to partially withdraw” capped fuel prices represented a severe hit on small businesses, an additional step that boosts inflation and a move away from green solutions.
The Democratic Coalition (DK) said in a statement that ruling Fidesz was gradually withdrawing from more and more drivers the possibility of buying cheap fuel. “This will continue until so few drivers are eligible to buy fuel at the regulated price that the scheme can be cancelled without anyone noticing,” it added.
“First, over 12 years, they brought Hungary to ruin, then lied to the whole country before the election and since then, they have been introducing austerity measures, raising taxes, utility fees and fuel prices, making people pay for the consequences of their government,” DK said.
Jobbik said the decision was a severe hit on small businesses whose operation had already been hampered by decisions in recent weeks. The government allowed only a few hours for small businesses to prepare for having to pay market prices at the petrol station, it added.
Jobbik reiterated a party proposal to waiver VAT on utility fees, provide direct support to those that suffered from recent changes to the itemised small business tax KATA and utility fees, offer preferences to families with one and two children and extend the cap on utility fees to small businesses.
Párbeszéd said in a statement that the partial withdrawal of fuel price caps would result in more expensive transport costs and businesses’ increased costs will be transferred to consumers.
Momentum proposed reducing road tolls affecting transporters. “It could reduce inflation running amok so as to prevent the brutal petrol price increases from resulting in brutal food price increase,” the party said.
LMP said the decision was proof that Fidesz had “an aversion to green solutions”. Hungary’s dependence on fossil energy is the result of 12 years of faulty government policies, it added. The party slammed the government for its refusal to comment on its proposal to introduce a monthly 5,000 forint (EUR 12) pass for all means of public transport.
Read alsoOpposition wants to make Hungary’s new gas contract with Russia public
Opposition: Orbán lied about everything during the campaign
Hungary’s opposition parties on Friday criticised Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s recent comments on jobs and the changes to household utility price caps and the small business tax, saying he had “admitted” that the government was “incapable of protecting families”.
In a Facebook post reacting to Orbán’s interview to public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió, Socialist Party co-leader Bertalan Tóth said the prime minister had “irresponsibly dished out handouts” before the election in the interest of keeping his power “and lied that this was sustainable”. “They lied about stability, utility prices, the price of Russian energy, the state of emergency and just about everything,” Toth insisted.
He said the minimum wage should be exempt from personal income tax, taxes on low incomes should be cut, while low pensions and the wages of public service workers, teachers and health-care workers should be increased. Tóth also criticised Orbán, who he said “has been living off taxpayer money for 32 years”, over his reasoning for the need to change the rules around the itemised tax for small businesses (kata).
Opposition Momentum said the prime minister’s radio interview was “a clear admission that the government can’t and doesn’t want to protect Hungarian families from the cost of living crisis”. Momentum said Hungary’s economic stability could only be guaranteed by an agreement with the European Union and a commitment to carrying out structural reforms so that the country could have access to the funds that could be spent on hospitals, schools and jobs.
LMP co-leader Máté Kanász-Nagy urged an end to Hungary’s dependence on hydrocarbons. He called on the government to lift all bans and restrictions on the installation of renewable energy systems, introduce a building insulation scheme based on social considerations and
scrap the upgrade of the Paks nuclear plant.
The leftist Democratic Coalition said Orbán had admitted that the government “won’t protect jobs”. Balázs Barkóczi, the party’s spokesman, told a press conference that “the prime minister knows what he’s talking about, given that he’s just taken away the livelihood of 450,000 taxpayers”. “First they let Orbán’s inflation loose on the country, then imposed a brutal package of austerity measures with the windfall taxes, the decision to scrap the kata tax and by raising utility costs,” Barkóczi said.
Fidesz wants opposition MEP recalled from rapporteur role over alleged link to fraud case
Momentum MEP Katalin Cseh should be immediately recalled from her position of European parliamentary rapporteur over her link to a fraud case involving EU funds, ruling Fidesz’s MEP group said on Thursday.
In a letter sent to MEPs, Tamás Deutsch, head of Fidesz’s EP delegation, said Cseh, who is responsible for the EP’s report on the fight against fraud involving EU funds, was herself “the subject of a fraud case involving EU funds”.
“The only acceptable move to preserve the European Parliament’s remaining credibility would be the immediate recall of Katalin Cseh as rapporteur,” Deutsch said.
Read alsoRussian rocket scientist fled to Hungary – will he be extradited?
He said that while the Hungarian left was accusing ruling party politicians, business people and family members of public officials of corruption, Cseh had been put in charge of an anti-fraud report while being linked to a fraud case concerning EU funds and being under investigation by national and EU authorities.
The fact that the person responsible for the EP report on the fight against fraud involving EU funds is “the subject of a fraud case involving EU funds” not only reflects poorly on Renew Europe, Momentum’s EP group, but it also “seriously undermines the already shattered reputation of the European Parliament and the European Union”, Deutsch said.
Bi-weekly The Parliament Magazine elected Momentum MEP Katalin Cseh and Socialist István Ujhelyi MEPs of the year.
Cseh won the award for her work on the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Ujhelyi won in the category Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, for his work in introducing the free InterRail programme and for supporting tourism during the pandemic.
Second biggest opposition party wants Hungary to join EPPO
Opposition Momentum is submitting a proposal to parliament calling for Hungary to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the party’s group leader András Fekete-Győr and MEP Anna Donáth said at a joint press conference on Wednesday.
Donáth said it was vital for Hungary to be able to call down European Union resources, but the government was constantly fighting with the EU instead of sitting at the negotiation table. She noted that the EU expected the Hungarian government to provide anti-graft guarantees before making the monies available.
Fekete-Győr said that with the proposal the party also wants to ensure that monies due to Hungarian teachers, nurses, ambulance workers and employees indeed go to the people instead of “some money-box that belongs to the Orbán family”.
He added that the government had recently announced 2,000 billion forints (EUR 5bn) worth of austerity measures, which will take money out from average Hungarians’ purses when they use banking and mobile services or travel.
If Hungary receives the 2,500 billion forints (EUR 6.3bn) due from the recovery fund, there will be no need for austerity measures, he said.
Read alsoLeftist opposition in crisis after the lost election?
Opposition calls on Orbán cabinet not ‘break down’ teacher protests
The opposition Momentum Movement on Tuesday called on Interior Minister Sándor Pintér to address the “real” problems of Hungary’s public education rather than “focusing on breaking down teachers’ protests”.
After parliament approved a law on transitional provisions in connection with the expiration of the special legal order on May 31, Momentum lawmaker Endre Tóth told a press conference that the regulation “severely curbs” teachers’ right to strike.
Under the new law, teachers’ strikes must not result in lessons falling out in classes standing before school-leaving exams, or in classes with children with special needs.
Otherwise, teachers must hold 50 percent of classes during the strike, and supervision must be provided for the children in the remaining time in their own classrooms.
Tóth said the measure made teachers’ protest “invisible”.
The opposition’s education package proposes a 50 percent wage hike, free choice of textbooks and a review of the school funding system, he said. The opposition will submit parts of that package to parliament, he said.
Leftist opposition in crisis after the lost election?
After their failure in the April general election, the coalition of opposition parties has fallen apart and, with the exception of the Democratic Coalition led by Ferenc Gyurcsány, the rivalling parties are in a state of crisis, according to an analysis of opinion polls carried out by the Twenty-First Century Institute published on Thursday.
Relative newcomer Momentum has been “struggling with a permanent leadership crisis”, the think-tank said. Founding member and former leader András Fekete-Győr still dominates the party and as group leader “he will put his stamp on the party” while the departure of Anna Donáth as Momentum’s leader “will cause
uncertainty and managerial instability.”
The think-tank cited “information in the opposition press” suggesting an active connection between Gyurcsány’s party and the youthful Momentum movement. Gyurcsány wants to form a DK-Momentum coalition similar to the pre-2010 Socialist-Liberal coalition, it added.
Both LMP and Párbeszéd identify as green parties, the analysis said, but “they can hardly be called real parties as they lack a mass base and are led by media politicians”. LMP’s leadership, it added, was “quite unstable”, while the co-leaders of Párbeszéd indicated after the election that they would not run for office. Due to the uneasy election cooperation between the two green parties, environmental politics and their party identities have faded, the think-tank said.
Regarding the conservative Jobbik party, the Twenty-First Century Institute said the party’s had
lost its nationalist credentials after teaming up with the left wing and taking up its positions on key international issues,
including relations with Hungarians beyond the border and the European Union. “The party is intellectually vacant,” the think-tank said.
Even though Jobbik recorded “its biggest loss” in the general election, Péter Jakab was re-elected leader at a recent party conference by a dwindling number of delegates, indicating a shrinking party organisation and membership. As radical party Mi Hazánk entered parliament for the first time, Jobbik’s room for manoeuvre has narrowed, and it will be impossible for it to return to its former right-wing narrative, the institute said.
Only the Democratic Coalition is stable and free of a leadership crisis,
according to the think-tank. It is the sole party with a stable organisational hinterland and the resources to develop a strong opposition policy, it added.
Read alsoThe new government will be “significantly reshuffled”, says prime minister
Jobbik re-elected leader who is the last but one most unpopular politician in Hungary?
Péter Jakab was re-elected as leader of the opposition Jobbik party at a party conference on Saturday, the party said in a statement. Jobbik’s press office said Jakab received 71.4 percent of the votes, while his opponent, János Stummer, got 27.8 percent. Of the 245 ballots cast, 243 were valid, the statement said.
Delegates at the conference are also scheduled to elect deputy party leaders on Saturday.
Péter Jakab has been outdone in the unpopularity stakes only by Ferenc Gyurcsány, the former Socialist prime minister who now leads the Democratic Coalition, according to a fresh survey by the Nézőpont Institute.
Only 23 percent of active voters thought Jakab should fill a top post, the survey published on Saturday found.
Asked the same question about Gyurcsány, only 10 percent would entrust him with a position of responsibility.
- Read also: MEP Gyöngyösi: Orbán chose the rubel
Nézőpont said that Jobbik’s support base had also waned since the election four years ago, when 20 percent of voters backed the party.
Now, Jobbik would only capture 3 percent of voters in an election held this Sunday,
it added.
Meanwhile, Péter Márki-Zay, the former prime ministerial candidate of the united opposition who is the mayor of Hódmezővásárhely, and Anna Donáth, the leader of Momentum, each captured 24 percent of active voters in Nézőpont’s poll, though 70 percent would not entrust Marki-Zay with a position of authority, while 42 percent responded the same way when it came to Donáth — whose name recognition is low, with 27 percent of active voters unsure who she was.
Among left-wing leaders, Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, who is giving up his position as leader of the Párbeszéd party, is the most popular (32 percent).
Nézőpont conducted its representative survey of 1,000 adults by phone from April 25 to 27.
Read alsoMEP Gyöngyösi: Rule rule of law procedure is a real European soap opera
Opposition parties to be present in the first session of the new parliament
It seems the debate about taking part in the parliament’s first session and acknowledging Fidesz’s fourth consecutive landslide victory in the general elections with being present came to an end among the parties of the Hungarian opposition.
Hungarian media reported that even Momentum Movement made it clear yesterday that they would be present at the new parliament’s first session on Monday. Momentum also added that they would swear the oath. That is a prerequisite to becoming a full member of the Hungarian National Assembly. Afterwards, MPs of Momentum will leave the parliament and will not accept positions in the new parliament for the time being.
Only Ákos Hadházy said that he would not go to the first session. Instead, he will sit in Kossuth Square and hold office hours there.
Meanwhile, Jobbik and Párbeszéd set up their parliamentary group yesterday.
Opposition party Jobbik said on Friday that its ten-member parliamentary group has reelected Peter Jakab as its leader. Jakab, who also leads the party itself, called it an honour to have been reinstalled in the post on Facebook.
The opposition Párbeszéd party formed its parliamentary group on Friday, electing Bence Tordai as the group’s interim leader, the party said in a statement. When Tímea Szabó’s term as the party’s co-leader expires in September, she will head the parliamentary group, while Tordai will be her deputy from that time on, the statement said. In the meantime, she will act as his deputy.
Finance ministry employees arrested on charges of accepting bribes
The investigative body of the public prosecutor’s office has arrested three employees of the finance ministry on the charge of accepting bribes, the ministry said on Wednesday.
The employees were tasked with handling tenders, the ministry statement said. “The ministry is fully cooperating with the investigative body and condemns all forms of corruption,” the statement said. The employees’ contracts have been suspended, it added.
EU Commissioner: No positive developments on rule of law in Hungary
The European Commission cannot report positive developments on the state of the rule of law in Hungary, Didier Reynders, the Commissioner for Justice, said in the European Parliament on Wednesday.
At the debate on the rule of law in Hungary in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), Reynders noted that the EP had launched several infringement procedures against the country for breaching EU values such as academic freedom and the rights of civil organisations, migrants and sexual minorities.
The latest procedure was launched against amendments of Hungary’s child protection law, which the EU has called discriminative against the LGBTQ community.
He said the procedures would hopefully give an opportunity for Hungary to respond to the European Commission’s concerns. Regarding the latest infringement procedure, Reynders said the EC condemned discrimination, aggression or incitement against sexual minorities.
All member states and their institutions must respect EU values and fundamental rights, he said. The EC will consider activating its conditionality mechanism which links EU funding to the rule of law after examining Hungary’s responses to the commission’s concerns, he said.
He said funds for Hungary from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) had also been “blocked” as its plan for how to use those resources was not endorsed, he said. The EC expects to see “implementation of real reforms corresponding country-specific recommendations” before further funds are made available, he said.
Fidesz MEP Balázs Hidvéghi said in his address that child protection and education were sovereign issues and the EU had no competency in those areas.
All adults in Hungary have the right to self-expression, including the area of sexuality, he said. The attack on Hungary’s child protection law “is really an ideologically based witch-hunt,” he said. Hungary stands by the view that LGBTQ activists “have no business in schools and playgrounds”, he said, adding that voters had given the government its fourth consecutive mandate earlier this month, cementing their rejection of “all political interference from Brussels”.
“Blackmailing member states with financial sanctions to push through an ideological programme is unacceptable,”
he said. He called on the EC to “accept the will of the Hungarian people and cease politically motivated attacks”.
Anna Donáth of Momentum Movement said that since the general election on April 3, which brought about a supermajority for the ruling parties, many LGBTQ Hungarians had left the country either because of their sexual orientation or because they wanted to start a family. She called the referendum on the child protection law unlawful and a political tool “unsupported by most Hungarians”.
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Second biggest opposition party to boycott first session of new parliament!
Lawmakers of the opposition Momentum Movement will boycott the first session of the new parliament, Miklós Hajnal, a party lawmaker said on Wednesday.
The party’s lawmakers will not return their mandate which they received from voters, Hajnal told public radio on Wednesday. The boycott is
a “symbolic act” in protest against dwindling rights of opposition lawmakers,
he said. In the new cycle, election lawmakers cannot enter public institutions and cannot form investigative committees, he said.
He called for previous rights of lawmakers to be reinstated.
Hajnal said Fidesz had “created an election system favouring them,” and so the opposition’s best chance to win was to run in an alliance in the April 3 general election, he said.
Besides external factors, the opposition will also have to reckon with the mistakes made during the campaign, Hajnal added.
