Hungary FM slams EU over misuse of rule of law to punish Budapest

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
26 Nov 2022 20:33
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Subduing Budapest by the EU is not an option.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto slammed the European Parliament on Saturday over the misuse of the rule-of-law mechanism to punish and subdue Budapest to the EU's policy.

"Currently, there are political perceptions against Hungary because there is a conservative, Christian-Democrat government in place for the last 12 years and, on top of that, we are successful," he told France 24.

On September 18, the EU Commission proposed to freeze 7.5 billion euros ($7.8 billion) meant for Hungary over allegations of Budapest violating rule-of-law, corruption, and curtailing judiciary and freedom of the press.

The European Commission proposed in September that the Council of the EU freeze 7.5 billion euros ($7.8 billion) in EU budget funding for Hungary.

The European Union launched the rule-of-law mechanism earlier this year after accusing Budapest of abusing the unanimity vote.

Parliament insists that the EU must freeze funding to Hungary. Press release: https://t.co/S7fWpeHIE6 pic.twitter.com/P6R1QO6K7B
— European Parliament (@Europarl_EN) November 24, 2022

Two days ago, the European Parliament voted in favor of keeping the hold on with a turnout of 416 to 124.

The reason, according to MEPs, is that the 17 measures proposed by Hungary don't go far enough to address "the existing risks to the EU’s financial interests."

The Council has until December 19 to decide whether to adopt, amend, or reject the Commission’s judgment.

"There was an agreement on an almost complete list," Szijjarto said.

"We put all the drafts on the agenda of the [Hungarian] parliament. The parliament has been working on them. I'm pretty sure that we will be able to adopt these 17 pieces of regulation. Then the ball will be in the court of the European Commission."

Responding to critics saying that the Hungarian government had only implemented three out of the 17 remedial measures, the diplomat added, "The European Parliament is not a stakeholder."

"The European Parliament is a political body making political judgments, based on a leftist majority. They hate us, politically speaking, because we've had a conservative, Christian Democratic government in place for the last 12 years, and on top of that, we're successful."