parliament

Hungarian JusticeMin: EP does not respect democracy, rule of law

EU Brussels

The European Parliament does not respect democracy or the rule of law, Justice Minister Judit Varga said in Brussels on Tuesday.

Varga told Hungarian journalists ahead of a meeting of European Union affairs ministers that the EP had not been “dealt any cards” to decide which country fulfils the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

An EP initiative to prevent Hungary from filling the council presidency in the second half of 2024 only shows the body’s frustration, she said. One of the priorities of Hungary’s presidency will be to check the functioning of the rule-of-law principles in the EP’s operations, she added.

The EP respects neither democracy nor the rule of law, as it wants to introduce an initiative this week which clearly goes against the EU treaties, she said.

Parliament debates the law on whistleblowers and amendments to the electoral law

Hungarian Parliament

Lawmakers will on Monday vote again on a law regulating complaints and the reporting of abuses after President Katalin Novák sent it back to parliament last month for reconsideration.

The law is aimed at regulating the constitutional right to petition, as well as providing a legal framework for the reporting of abuses and the protection of whistleblowers in line with the European Union requirement of legal harmonisation.

Novák returned the law to parliament, saying that a section of the legislation which was meant to provide stronger protections to Hungary’s constitutional rights and values instead weakened those values because it was not based on the assumption that there is a national agreement on them.

Later this week, lawmakers are scheduled to discuss planned amendments to local aspects of the country’s election law. Among other changes, the amendment would see a compensation list awarded in respect of settlements with more than 10,000 people voting in local government elections to parties that nominate candidates in at least two-thirds of individual constituencies.

As we wrote 10 days ago, the state of emergency is once again extended by half a year in Hungary, details HERE.

European Parliament: There is a systemic problem in Hungary

European alliance Fidesz

The European Parliament’s special committee on the use of spyware adopted its report and recommendations. According to the report, there is a “systemic problem” in Hungary.

The European Parliament’s special committee on the use of spyware adopted its report and recommendations on 8 May. Both the report and the recommendations were adopted by a large majority. According to mfor.hu, their main findings are as follows:

  • Spyware was used to monitor, discredit and humiliate the opposition, journalists and civil society;
  • The use of spyware should be subject to strict conditions;
  • A uniform definition of what constitutes national security is needed;
  • The setting up of an EU tech lab could help with research, investigations and forensic analysis.

In relation to Hungary – and Poland – involved in the Pegasus case, the report found that “there is a systemic problem” in the two countries. Their recommendations include restoring the independence of the supervisory bodies and the judiciary, the need for an independent and specific judicial mandate prior to the use of spyware, judicial analysis following its use, and ensuring citizens’ access to remedies.

In the cases of Greece and Spain, on the other hand, the use of spyware was said to be ad hoc, for economic and political gain.

As we may recall, Judit Varga, the Minister of Justice, refused to meet with the committee’s delegation to Budapest.

European Union funds may arrive sooner in Hungary than expected

Viktor Orbán Ursula von der Leyen EU

On Wednesday, 3 May, the Hungarian Parliament adopted the judicial reform law package, which is intended to meet the European Commission’s demands. This move will allow the government to access 13 billion euros from the Union’s cohesion fund, which was frozen until now. However, due to bureaucratic processions, even though Brussels and Budapest reached a deal, it will take a few months until the first money transfers begin.

After long-lasting negotiations between the Commission and the Hungarian government, Brussels gave the go-ahead for the reform package. While the Parliament adopted the new laws, this is not the end of the line. Now begins a lengthy process at the end of which the money will start flowing in. According to calculations, at the earliest, this will start in September, Portfolio reports.

Bureaucratic process

Adopting the laws is not enough. The next step will see the President of Hungary, Katalin Novák sign the new regulations into effect. Once her signature has been applied, on 1 June the changes will materialise in the legal system.

Following this, the Hungarian government will have to request a review of the document from the European Commission. They will evaluate whether the new laws are enough to meet their initial demands. The Commission has 90 days to reply and issue its judgment.

If they deem the changes satisfactory, the first transfers can begin. The Commission will then keep monitoring how these funds are being used.

Assuming that everything will occur the way the government expects, this means that the earliest payments will arrive at the beginning of September. It’s good news for Budapest. According to EU diplomats, the technical agreement made prior to the adoption of the reform packages guarantees up to 80-85 percent that Brussels will accept the proposition.

Partial solution

However, this is not the end of the conflict between the European Union and Hungary. While 13 billion euros is a large amount of money, 25 billion are still locked away due to other concerns. Out of the 27 demands overall, the government satisfied only 4 of them.

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó recently voiced his discontent with the state of affairs.

“The funds Hungary has the right to are being withheld for political reasons, unjustly, without a legal basis. These newer and newer expectations the Commission keeps claiming are becoming derogative”

-he said.

Commissioner for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová commended Hungary for the reforms. However, she also highlighted that this is not the end of the story. She reminded the country that 23 demands are still unmet, and now the government has to follow through with its commitment in order to gain access to the frozen funds.

 

Parliament continues to propose a state of emergency for the government

Hungarian parliament

Parliament voted on Wednesday to empower the government to prolong the state of emergency in connection with the war in Ukraine until November 25.

The motion was supported by 132 votes in favour, while 58 deputies voted against changing the law on rules to be applied in case of war in a neighbouring country as well as in the case of humanitarian disasters.

According to the law sponsored by the justice minister, an extended state of emergency is needed to handle the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the war in Ukraine and to tackle the economic consequences.

The bill was designed to “ensure all means to assist and accommodate refugees, fence off the negative economic impacts … and help the country leave behind the impacts of the war as soon as possible,” its preamble said.

Slovak PM candidate: what if Hungary attacked Slovakia like Russia attacked Ukraine?

Hungarian army Slovakia

Igor Matovič, the former Slovak prime minister, would like to win the office again. Furthermore, he counts on the help of the newly-formed alliance of the Hungarian political organisations in Slovakia. However, he scares his fellow citizens with a Hungarian attack from the South. Is there a solution to that discrepancy?

According to parameter.sk, a Hungarian news outlet in Slovakia, Mr Matovič seems tireless in the campaign. There will be an early parliamentary election in Slovakia because the previous governing coalition collapsed, but the date is only 30 September. Even so, the country’s leader between 2020 and 2021 is campaigning everywhere. He visits the regional centres of Slovakia, where he organises meetings with locals.

He already had 15 such events during which he answers the questions of ordinary citizens. Parameter.sk says he holds out perfectly even though some of his fellow countrymen have gruesome ideas about how Slovakia or the world works. Of course, each of these events has a part during which they speak about the ongoing war in Ukraine. Matovič regularly gives consolidated answers, but in his explanations, Hungary receives the role of genocidal Russia.

Once, he got a question about how arms deliveries can solve the armed conflict. The interrogator said Russia could not lose in Ukraine, so Ukraine cannot win. But Matovič said if Hungary attacked South Slovakia, what would he say? Should the government not ask for weapons from Czechia or Poland to become able to defend their homeland and drive back the Hungarian invaders behind the borders?

“Ukrainians are in a similar situation, whether we like it or not. The Russians are taking what does not belong to them. If the Hungarians took the Southern regions, we would defend it likewise”, the former Slovak prime minister said. The conversation begins at 3.30 in the video below. Unfortunately, it is in Slovakian, without subtitles:

Later, he got the same question from a beer drinker in Zsarnóca (Žarnovica). “What would you do – and I do not say it is a real threat as Rastislav Káčer would put it – if you turned on the news in the morning and you heard that Hungary attacked South Slovakia? Would you grab weapons to defend the country? Or would you say that they should take it away since people speak Hungarian there?”, he asked. But he received no answer from the man.

The question is what Matovič will say on such questions in the Southern regions where Hungarians represent the majority? And how does he plan to cooperate with the Alliance party, the political organisation of the Hungarians living in Slovakia and have good chance to become part of the parliament in Bratislava from September?

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Featured image: illustration

Fidesz: Brussels’ migration policy is suicide

migration

The European Parliament’s proposals on migration are once again “forcing mandatory quotas for accepting migrants”, a Fidesz MEP said, after the EP confirmed key reform mandates on asylum and migration at a plenary session on Thursday, MTI wrote.

“The EP proposals are entirely inadequate to solve the problem of migration, and so they should be rejected without delay,” Balazs Hidvéghi said. The proposals would once again boost illegal migration and lead to large-scale abuse and further migration waves, he said. Hidvéghi proposed a review and “rethink” of the proposals as a representative of Fidesz’s EP delegation, in cooperation with the European Conservatives and Reformists and the Identity and Democracy EP groups, saying the proposals were “forcing old bad practices and will lead to another spectacular failure in handling migration.”

Meanwhile, the EP vote showed once again that “Hungarian leftist MEPs support illegal migration and mandatory distribution quotas,” Hidvéghi said. The EP voted to start negotiations on the new regulations with 419 votes in favour, 126 against and 30 abstentions. The plenary adopted negotiating mandates on various aspects of the issue, including a binding solidarity mechanism to assist countries experiencing migratory pressure, the EP said. The regulation sets out how the EU and its member states will act jointly to manage asylum and migration, the statement said.

Here is Hidvéghi’s post. It goes: “Brussels’ migration policy is suicide! Good morning, Hungary!”

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Fidesz MEPs: Situation of national minorities in Serbia ‘exemplary’

Árpád Fremond

The situation of national minorities in Serbia serves as an example to the European Union given that Serbia “cherishes national minorities”, Fidesz MEPs said on Thursday at a meeting of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages.

The meeting also examined the situation of Hungarians living in Serbia’s Vojvodina region, Kinga Gál and Andor Deli said in a statement to MTI.

The European Commission “is not taking meaningful measures” regarding national minorities, as its approach to Minority SafePack has shown, they said, referring to an EU citizens’ initiative that aimed to improve EU protections of national and linguistic minorities but was ultimately rejected by the EC in 2020.

“I think it is particularly important to point to examples outside the EU. Serbia takes the issue seriously and shows respect to national minorities, with a functional [minority] council system,” he said.

In his speech at the EP intergroup meeting, Árpád Fremond, the head of Vojvodina’s Hungarian council, said ethnic Hungarians in Serbia were the greatest beneficiaries of good relations between Serbia and Hungary. “We are grateful to … Hungary for doing everything in its power to keep Serbia’s EU integration on the agenda of EU institutions,” he said.

Gál, the intergroup’s co-chair, said her working group aimed primarily to have representatives of minorities brief MEPs firsthand. She praised the Hungarian National Council in Vojvodina as a way to preserve Hungarian minorities in Serbia. Ethnic Hungarians are the demographic group most committed to the country’s EU integration in Serbia, she said.

She called for the accession process to be speeded up while keeping the protection of minorities a priority to ensure the rights of Hungarians are guaranteed, she added.

Orbán still has an MEP in the European People’s Party: he received a new task

MEP György Hölvényi EPP Orbán

Mr György Hölvényi is an MEP of the governing Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) and still sits in the EPP despite the fact that governing Fidesz left the group in 2019. Now, he received an important task from his party.

According to telex.hu, Hölvényi’s task will be to inform the European Parliament about the Hungarian National Assembly’s “pro-peace” resolution accepted on Friday. Furthermore, he will have to do everything to make the EPP return to the heritage of its founding fathers and support peace instead of war. They did not tell what peace means and how Ukraine should sign a peace treaty amid a Russian invasion.

Hölvényi: EU should rethink Syria strategy

The European Union must rethink its approach to Syria, and the situation after the earthquake there presents an opportunity to reconsider its sanctions policy against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, Christian Democrat MEP György Hölvényi said on Saturday. Hölvényi is visiting earthquake-hit areas in Syria as part of a humanitarian mission to assess the most pressing humanitarian needs there, MTI wrote.

He said in a statement that the world soon “forgot the thousands of victims” of the earthquake, adding that reliable data on how many people were injured in the disaster were scant. More than 77,000 Syrian families were displaced and 4 million people were directly affected by the earthquake there, he noted. He warned that suffering would deepen and there would be an increase in emigration in the absence of a change of approach by the international community.

Hölvényi is scheduled to visit St. Louis Hospital in Aleppo, which was built with Hungarian help and meet Cardinal Mario Zenari, the apostolic nuncio of Syria, as well as the Syrian director of the Jesuit refugee service, among other religious leaders. He noted that he will then write a report for European decision-makers dealing with Syria. The Hungarian politician said it was necessary to “find a way” for sanctions to achieve their political goals without increasing suffering, and a new strategic approach was in order to achieve this.

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EU Parliament “deplores” Hungarian minister over Belarus visit

The European Parliament deplores Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó. The Hungarian foreign minister visited Belarus in February, which goes against the stance of the EU.

Hungarian FM in Belarus

The European Parliament expressed disapproval regarding Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó’s visit to Belarus, telex.hu reports. The politician had a meeting with Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik.

The European Parliament’s resolution condemned the visit. The EP “underlines the importance of strengthening EU unity concerning Belarus, including as regards the diplomatic isolation of the current regime”.

The EP continues to condemn “any actions, including high-ranking visits to the de facto authorities in Minsk which could cast doubt on the Union’s unequivocal non-recognition of the Lukashenka regime,” before surprisingly naming Szijjártó directly.

“In this context, (the EP) deplores the 13 February 2023 visit to Minsk by the Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, which contradicts the EU policy on Belarus and on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”

Hungary unfazed

The resolution has no legal consequences and probably does not bother the Hungarian Foreign Ministry. As a matter of fact, Péter Szijjártó was already aware that the meeting would face backlash during his press conference.

“It is clear that after you report that I was here today discussing the importance of peace with my Belarusian colleague, I will be attacked by many people” – Péter Szijjártó is quoted by telex.hu

“My fellow politicians in the West, the international liberal media, will all say how unacceptable it is that I was here today and that I had talks with my Belarusian colleague. I want to say one thing in response. The Hungarian position has always been clear: the channels of communication must be kept open.”

Slovak President
Read alsoSlovak President fears her country could step onto Orbán’s path

Szijjártó said that he asked Belarusian Foreign Minister Aleinik to “do his utmost for peace and do his utmost against the prolongation and escalation of the war”.

The resolution again condemns Belarus’s involvement in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The European Parliament argues that “Lukashenka and other Belarusian officials share responsibility” for war crimes committed in Ukraine. Therefore, they should be held accountable in a “special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and other appropriate international courts”.

Fidesz MEPs call for European peace plan

energy crisis eu brussels

The MEPs of ruling Fidesz are calling for the drafting of a European peace plan to replace the “failed sanctions policy” and weapon deliveries to Ukraine, MEPs Kinga Gál and Tamás Deutsch said in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

Speaking ahead of a plenary session of the European Parliament preparing for an European Union summit at the end of the month, Gal said European decision-makers failed to discuss peace even as the number of victims was climbing.

European leaders, EP President Roberta Metsola among them, urge further weapon deliveries and a joint purchase of weapons, she said. That threatens the EU with being dragged into the war, and raises the spectre of a world war, she warned.

“We need to broker peace to save lives and forestall further destruction. The conflict has only one solution: a ceasefire and peace talks,” Gál said.

Deutsch said Hungary’s was the “only pro-peace approach in a sea of slogans for war, sanctions and weapon deliveries”. Hungary and the Vatican stand together on their position for peace, he added.

The EU should take active diplomatic steps in the interest of a ceasefire, peace talks, and ultimately peace, rather than promoting an “utterly failed” policy of sanctions and weapon deliveries, he said. To achieve that, Europe should draft a peace plan, he added.

Regarding the corruption scandal affecting the European Parliament, he said corruption in Brussels was “systemic”, affecting the operation of EU institutions, and called for “every detail” of the scandal to be brought to light.

He added that “no meaningful steps” had been taken by any EU institutions on the matter, while the EP president rejected as “unnecessary” a proposal by Fidesz MEPs to adopt asset declarations of the kind the European Commission had found suitable for use in Hungary.

Until European institutions resolve the matter of corruption in Brussels, “we will not accept any lecturing from any EU institutions on corruption”, he added.

energy crisis eu brussels
Read alsoFidesz MEPs call for European peace plan

Hundreds of thousands of people could gather at the Parliament soon in Budapest

demonstrators_on_kossuth_square_near_the_parliament_in_budapest

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the holy mass to be held by Pope Francis in Budapest’s Kossuth Square during his visit on 30 April, Cardinal Péter Erdő, the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, said on Wednesday.

A total of 20,000 seats will be made available, but standing room in the square and in surrounding streets will allow hundreds of thousands to attend the papal mass, Erdő told MTI.

“The faithful and pilgrims from within and beyond the borders are all welcome to attend,” the cardinal said, expressing hope that the message of the mass will have a broad outreach.

On Saturday, the pontiff is scheduled to meet around 15,000 young people in the Papp László Arena, Erdő noted, adding that the number of young participants each diocese can send will be discussed by the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference next week.

Pope Francis will visit Hungary between 28 and 30 April.

Michael Wallace Banach, the apostolic nuncio, told a press conference earlier in the day that Hungary was so far the only country for Pope Francis to visit twice.

The new visitor complex in Hungary at Tisza (2)
Read alsoPHOTOS, VIDEO: Brand new visitor centre opens in Hungary

Parlt group to support Israeli-Arab settlement meets

Daily News Hungary Logo Új

A “society of friends” within the Hungarian parliament set up to support a settlement of ties between Israel and Arab countries held its first meeting on Monday, parliament’s press service said.

The society established late last year is headed by Zsolt Németh, the head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, with Fidesz MP Pal Barna Zsigmond and Socialist MP Zita Gurmai as members.

The society monitors implementation of the Abraham Accords, signed by Israel and Arab countries with the aim of normalising their relations, and establishes contact with similar societies in other countries, the statement said.

At its first meeting, the society welcomed the signing of the accords and said they offered “a new approach and an opportunity to further strengthen peace and security in the region”. Expanding cooperation between Israel and the Arab countries could greatly contribute to increasing long-term stability in the region, they added.

Hungary is committed to promoting that trend and is ready to ensure support to the parties, even in the form of tri-lateral cooperation, the statement said.

Orbán reveals how long the food price and interest rate freeze will remain in Hungary – UPDATE

orbán ambassadors

Household energy price caps will remain in 2023, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an address to MPs in parliament on Monday.

Last year, Hungary withdrew some of the excess profits made by some companies with a view to helping Hungarian families and businesses by ploughing the resulting revenue into a protection fund paying for energy price caps, Orbán said, adding that this year it is doing the same.

The government has also made energy policy decisions for the long run, upgrading and developing Hungarian industry in the next decade, though this carries with it significant energy needs, he said.

Orbán said there were some who benefited from the energy prices caused by sanctions, such as the large energy companies that had record-high profits around the world. US companies supply gas to Europe at a much high price than they charge at home, which means that the profits resulting from sanctions are paid mostly by European companies and people in Europe, he added.
Hungary’s industry will be modernised and developed at a fast pace in the next decade, and favourable economic policies will be pursued for foreign investors, Orbán said. The new industrial policy will require more energy, which requires speedy decision-making, he added.

Decisions on developing green energy have been made, the Paks nuclear power plant expansion project is planned to be accelerated, while a decision has also been made to introduce gas turbine power stations, he said.

Meanwhile, the prime minister called the Nord Stream blast “a terrorist act”, adding that Hungary and Serbia had made it clear that if this happened in the case of South Stream, “they won’t get away with it”.

On the subject of child protection, Orbán said that in recent weeks the government had dealt with a “shocking and alarming paedophile case”. He said that the number of child pornography cases was “strongly increasing”, adding that “one cannot comprehend with a clear mind how this could happen in Hungary”.

He said “such cases should not happen in Hungary at all, especially not in schools”. The government has given clear instructions to the authorities to uncover all such cases, and heads of schools and local education officials have been instructed to ensure that “all such cases have immediate consequences.”

Orbán said such “atrocious cases” showed that “gender propaganda must not be overlooked”.

Referring to a government survey last year, Orbán said “3.7 million Hungarians rejected gender propaganda”. “Even if the whole world goes mad, and if Brussels excuses the inexcusable, Hungary must stay sane, an island in Europe in which families could safely send their children to school.”

Orbán asked all groups in parliament to cooperate “in the interest of protecting children”.

Meanwhile, Orbán said:

“We Hungarians must always stand up for our co-patriots beyond the borders, especially in times of war.”

“We mourn Hungarians who died on Ukraine-Russian lines of battle,” he said. “It is painful that our co-patriots in Transcarpathia are suffering atrocities — even during the time of war,” he said, adding that their right to use the Hungarian language had been truncated and the directors of Hungarian schools replaced.

Hungary’s diplomacy must make it clear that Transcarpathian Hungarians “deserve more respect”, he said.

Orbán said that during 2023, Hungary would have to cope with the dangers of a prolonged war, inflation, and migration that continued to be a threat at Hungary’s southern borders. Meanwhile, support must be shown for co-patriots beyond the borders, Orbán said. He called on all lawmakers, regardless of party affiliation, to help Hungary overcome this dangerous period.

Inflation, economy

Inflation will not be removed unless peace has been secured and Brussels has withdrawn sanctions, Orbán said on Monday. The government can moderate inflation, however, and it intends to lower inflation to the single digits by year-end, he added.

War, Ukraine

Orbán also said that on the first anniversary of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, it was reasonable for Hungary to make it clear that it had not changed its position, and a parliamentary resolution by MPs of the ruling Fidesz and Christian Democrats stating that Hungary remains pro-peace and wants to stay out of the Russia-Ukraine war deserves support.

A clear declaration is needed because Hungary is under pressure daily, he said. “Everybody can see that they want to pressure us into the war”, and they want us “to join pro-war countries”, he said.

Hungary must endure provocations every day, Orbán said. “I ask you not to rise to provocations and we should stick to Hungary’s interests in the political arena,” he added.

In the past two months, as the Russia-Ukraine war continued, new EU sanctions were announced, and it is now clear that energy prices will not return to pre-war levels, he said. Even though European gas reserves have been replenished, the price of gas is three times pre-war levels, he said, adding that this had stoked inflation, with Hungary spending 4,000 billion forints (EUR 10.5bn) more on energy in 2022 than in the previous year.

The results of the government’s public survey on sanctions shows that Hungarians reject the EU’s sanctions policy, he said.

Orbán said it is projected that the economy grew by 4.6 percent in 2022 and employment hit record levels. Exports, he added, were similarly outperforming, and foreign investments in Hungary were the highest seen in more than 20 years. Last year, the budget deficit and the national debt both fell. Orbán also noted pension increases and an expansion of family benefits.

On the subject of the war, Orbán said the government was “observing with serious concern” how Europe was gradually “drifting into war”, noting that several countries were sending tanks and contemplating providing fighter jets to Ukraine. He added that there were those who wanted to send troops to Ukraine, too.

The prime minister said Hungarians decided in the April general election, confirmed by the government’s public survey, that Hungary should “stay out of the war” and not deliver weapons.

“I’d like the war to end as soon as possible; no one can win in this war,” Orbán said.

The prime minister warned of mounting deaths, the threat of hyperinflation, economic collapse, and the possibility of a global war. He repeated his call for a ceasefire and peace talks, noting that Hungary is advocating for peace in all international forums.

Orbán called China’s peace plan “important”, adding that Hungary “supports it”.

He said countries like Hungary which must import most of their energy were especially “tormented by inflation”. With its intensive industrial production, and without its own energy sources, energy slapped by sanctions leads to higher than average inflation, and more time would be needed to combat it. The government, he added, has introduced 20 measures with the aim of breaking inflation and protecting families, and it has also taken action to protect jobs, families and pensioners.

EU funds will not arrive on time to Hungary

EU funds European Union

There is little chance that the European Commission will release significant amounts from the Hungarian budgets before the second half of the year. There is a simultaneous communication that EU funds could come soon, while more and more ministers act as if they are of no importance to the Hungarian economy.

The European Commission launched the rule of law mechanism against Hungary almost immediately after last year’s parliamentary elections. Tibor Navracsics, Minister of Regional Development, was asked to lead the negotiations and was initially optimistic. The deadline, promised for the end of the summer, was slowly pushed back. At the end of 2022, the partnership agreement between the government and Brussels was reached.

Meanwhile, the European Council suspended 55 percent of 3 operational projects, meaning around EUR 6.3 billion in funding. It has stopped transfers for the entire budget of the Hungarian government, due to the non-fulfilment of horizontal eligibility criteria. The conditions were as follows:

  • implementation of a judicial reform
  • resolving political conflicts of interest in the public foundations that manage universities
  • amendments to several pieces of legislation that are currently not legally consistent with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

Tibor Navracsics has held several meetings in Brussels and has repeatedly stated that Hungary will fulfil the conditions by the deadline. However, now, the Minister is more cautious when it comes to his statements. The deadline is the end of March, by which point the government must have the legislation passed in Parliament. Under the EU Council’s decision, payments under the EUR 5.8 billion RRF and cohesion funds have been made subject to 4 justice conditions for the 27 “super-milestones”.

Tibor Navracsics said that based on the Commission’s assessment, the European Council will “either close or extend” the rule of law procedure. Portfolio.hu has been informed that they will almost certainly decide in favour of an extension. This does not mean that the total suspension of payments will not be removed. Several Commission officials confirmed that there will be no immediate removal of the 55 percent of the payments affected by the rule of law procedure.

EU funds in Hungary are no longer that significant

Márton Nagy, Minister of Economic Development, said that the role of EU funds in Hungary is no longer that significant. FDI is now at least as important in investment as Hungarian and EU budget funds combined. There are many other investments such as the combined financing volume of Exim, MFB and the Széchenyi Card Programme, which amounts to HUF 3,000 billion (EUR 7,8 billion). EU funds are expected to reach HUF 2200 billion (EUR 5,7 billion) this year, of which HUF 950 billion (EUR 2,5 billion) would come from the former budget, according to the plan.

Within the European Commission, there is a strong view that it is not only the paragraphs that count, but also how the legislation is applied in practice. On the other hand, the hierarchy of EU procedures does not allow everything to be referred to at once. Suspension of referral on the basis of horizontal enabling clauses is the first step.

Even if the horizontal conditions are accepted, this does not automatically unblock 55 percent of the funds. First, the Commission may unblock the 45 percent segment above this. And the European Commission will only bring the matter to the Council if it concludes that Hungary has fully implemented the 27 super-milestones. Whether the Hungarian government meets the enabling conditions in the area of academic freedom is again a matter for the Commission to examine. The most important thing for Erasmus programmes is to manage conflicts of interest, i.e. to ensure that government officials are not members of the boards of trustees of the foundations. But other areas covered include the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and refugees.

Very few changes over a long period of time

The Justice Ministry, led by Judit Varga, presented a draft law on judicial reforms in January. Also in the Erasmus issue, all that is known is that the government members have resigned from the board of trustees.

Although several comments were made by the Commission on the rules, the government did not indicate any changes until mid-February. On the Erasmus issue, however, there are no plans for changes to the duration of mandates and the application of conflict of interest rules have been presented so far.

According to Navracsics, the Hungarian draft amendments to the law to close the case will be presented to the European Commission next week. However, the 31 March deadline for these laws to pass through Parliament is approaching fast. Thus, the evaluation procedure could start and reach a conclusion in April-May at the earliest. This means that the earliest EU funding could arrive is in the summer months.

Stadiums, World Championships: multiple priced prestige projects in Hungary

2017 World Aquatics Championships Budapest, Hungary

The most expensive stadium in the country is being constructed for the nine-day event, the cost approaching HUF 250 billion (EUR 644,209,179). The reason for the secrecy may be that the government’s prestige projects often cost much more than originally planned. The head of the company organising the world championships said they only had estimated figures, but that they determine the total costs afterwards.

This August, the capital will host the World Athletics Championships, for which the government is building a brand new arena. According to rtl.hu, the gigantic building on the banks of the Danube is already the most expensive sports facility in Hungary. Currently, it is estimated that the new athletics stadium in Budapest will cost HUF 246 billion (EUR 634,119,055).

Increasing budget

The construction of the stadium, with a capacity of 40,000 people, started in 2020. However, construction is not over yet and the World Championships are still more than six months away. This one of the prestige projects, including related developments, was said to cost HUF 204 billion (EUR 526,039,751), but prices have been rising ever since. Looking at similar projects in recent years, it is certain that the final figure of HUF 246 billion (EUR 634,119,055) is not the final sum.

And HUF 246 billion (EUR 634,119,055) is the current price of the stadium alone. How much public money is being spent on organising the nine-day world championship is not being disclosed.

“The government has pledged to provide all the necessary resources,”

said Balázs Németh, CEO of the company organising the World Athletics Championships.

The government gave an extra HUF 35 billion (EUR 90,230,140) for the prestige project last October. In December, the budget was increased by another HUF 8 billion (EUR 20,623,504), despite the fact that Nándor Csepreghy, State Secretary of the Ministry of Construction and Investment, said that it would not be more expensive because the construction of the structure was finished and the work would be partly carried out with previously purchased materials.

Orbán Viktor on prestige projects: “Let there be trust, we will solve the rest”

In 2017, the government brushed off questions about the increase in costs by claiming that many of the improvements would have been made without the World Cup. The event cost more than HUF 130 billion (EUR 335,231,667) instead of the HUF 25 billion (EUR 64,467,628) originally planned. “In the modern world, it’s not money that matters – although there are theories to that effect – but trust. We will find a way to make money” – this is what Viktor Orbán said when the foundation stone was laid for the swimming pool to be built for the 2017 World Aquatics Championships. So that was necessary.

2017 World Aquatics Championships Budapest, Hungary
Photo: Facebook/Budapest 2017 – FINA World Championships

Speaking of the World Championships, the 2019 World Kayak Championships and the development of the Olympic Centre in Szeged were small compared to the World Aquatics Championships. But the latter cost HUF 5 billion (12,896,610) instead of the planned HUF 1.85 billion (EUR 4,771,919), while the former cost three times as much as planned.

Simpler stadium, more expensive construction

The government decided in 2011 to demolish the old Népstadion and build a completely new arena. The costs were estimated at HUF 35 billion (EUR 90,270,705) in 2011. In 2014, the cost was estimated at HUF 100 billion (EUR 257,916,300), and the construction of a multifunctional sports centre that could host 6-7 other sports besides football was promised.

After another redesign, the Puskás Arena ended up being a much simpler one, but this was not reflected in the price: it cost HUF 150 billion (EUR 386,809,489). Typically, similar investments cost twice as much as planned – e.g. the Bozsik Stadium, the Vasas sports facility and the new ice hall of UTE – but some cost four times as much, such as the new Szeged swimming pool. Last year, the Hungarian House of Music in Városliget was voted the best building in the world, a building so unique that every element of it had to be made separately. This was reflected in its price: instead of the HUF 17 billion (EUR 43,837,931) originally planned, it was built for almost double that.

Puskás Arena Budapest, Hungary
Source: Facebook/Puskás Aréna

Controversial projects

Last year, the Prime Minister handed over another one of the prestige projects, the new building of the Museum of Ethnography. Almost HUF 40 billion (EUR 103,157,400) were spent on that investment. The development of Városliget has been controversial for years. because the expected cost of the megaproject has increased fivefold in a few years. In 2012, the total cost was estimated at HUF 55 billion (EUR 141,862,914), but in 2018, it was already estimated to be five times as much.

It is not known how much it will cost to move government departments to the Buda Castle district, restore the palaces of Dísz Square and Szent György Square, and renovate the Buda Castle Palace. However, experts interviewed by atlatszo.hu believe that the total price could exceed HUF 1,000 billion (EUR 2,579,325,714).

Fidesz files report with tax office NAV on “foreign campaign financing” of left wing

money euro

Fidesz’s deputy group leader has raised a complaint with the national tax office NAV in connection with the foreign campaign financing of Hungary’s left wing.

In a video statement, János Halász noted that various of Hungary’s authorities and secret services are in the midst of examining the case, adding that many questions had yet to be answered.

He accused the leader of the Everybody’s Hungary Movement (MMM), Péter Márky-Zay, and other people on the left of successively contradicting themselves. At first they “kept quiet” about the “dollars rolling in”, before admitting to receiving funds in the hundreds of millions of forints. Later, it was revealed that money flowing in had reached HUF 3 billion (EUR 7.6 million), he added.

Márky-Zay, the opposition’s candidate for prime minister, insisted that the sums had accrued through micro-donations, yet foreign NGO Action for Democracy had contradicted this statement, and finally he admitted that institutional donors had also made donations, he said.

Halász further accused groups linked to the chief adviser of Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, of channelling HUF 1.85 billion to various recipients in Hungary. Oraculum 2020 Kft received 1 billion while Gordon Bajnai’s DatAdat received 148 million from the NGO. Also, he said MMM had made transfers totalling HUF 1.4 billion to DatAdat’s Austrian parent company.

The Fidesz politician said there were well-founded suspicions that budget fraud had been committed. He added that the tax office should clarify the details of the case and take criminal action if required.

Socialists Hungary
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Fidesz MPs propose resolution to denounce ‘political pressure’ against Hungary

Hungarian parliament lawmaking government

Deputies of ruling Fidesz have proposed a parliamentary resolution rejecting “political pressure opposing Hungary’s interests”, in connection with recent decrees by Germany’s Bundestag and the Dutch parliament, relating to the Hungarian government’s negotiations with the European Commission on EU funds for Hungary.

The proposed resolution would confirm Hungary’s commitment to the EU’s fundamental values and protection of its finances, noting that the Hungarian government has recently “made and fulfilled” 17 actual commitments.

Signatories to the draft regretted that the parliaments of “some” member states would “leave the regulated framework of EU negotiations conducted between certain players” and “resort to exerting political pressure”. They also noted that the European Commission cannot “take instructions from the institutions of member states or other agencies”. They also said EU law “clearly defines the procedural regulations and indicates the EU agencies through which the compliance of member states with requirements to access EU funds could be evaluated” and added that “Germany or the Netherlands do not have such powers”.

Through adopting the statement, the Hungarian parliament could “reject blackmail by Germany and the Netherlands”, they said.

Just as Hungary’s national assembly “does not interfere with the life of the German and Dutch people, the legislation and other institutions of the two countries are expected to do the same”, the MPs said.

The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) said it would not support the resolution.

Deputy group leader Gergely Arato told an online press conference that the German and Dutch decrees had said Hungary was not governed by the rule of law, and “the Orban government is not seeking to eliminate graft, but to continue to use EU funds in a corrupt way.”

“Neither the Dutch nor the Germans are responsible for the fact that the government has been stealing EU funds for the past 12 years; as they are not going to be responsible either for that fact that Hungary will most likely lose a significant part of EU funding,” he said.