At a press conference following a meeting of EU ministers responsible for EU affairs, János Bóka said that comments by member state ministers on the agenda item related to the Article 7 procedure against Hungary followed the usual themes: primarily concerns about the Child Protection Law, the Sovereignty Protection Law and the Transparency Bill, as well as the situation of civil society and media freedom.
According to Minister János Bóka, what was new was that several speeches contained explicit references to domestic politics. “Several people mentioned the upcoming elections in Hungary, and even the name of the leader of the largest opposition party was mentioned (Péter Magyar – editor’s note), which has never happened before in the Article 7 procedure,” he said. He added that
all this confirms that the procedure is clearly a means of exerting political pressure.
The Hungarian government’s position remains unchanged, the minister emphasized.
As a national and sovereign government, we implement the decisions of the Hungarian people and represent Hungary’s interests in this procedure as well,”
he said.
He said that the Article 7 procedure will continue and that another hearing is expected to take place in the first half of next year, during the next EU presidency. The move to the next stage of the procedure was initiated by a few member states, but there was no clear majority in favor of it, he added.
Another item on the agenda of the Council meeting was the preparation of the EU summit starting on Thursday. According to János Bóka, the possibility of a peace summit in Budapest “confused communication between member states, shaking the previous position of the institutions.” He said that several explicitly hostile comments were made, suggesting that the peace summit should not be held.
Hungary’s position is clear: every opportunity to move closer to peace must be seized. Currently, US President Donald Trump’s peace initiative is the only serious proposal on the table, and we must support it with all the means at our disposal,”
the minister emphasized.
János Bóka said that the European Council will also address the issues of European defense and security policy and competitiveness. Several member states have raised the issue of high energy prices as the biggest obstacle to European competitiveness, and the minister believes that the European Commission should take concrete measures to reduce them.
The minister also reported that the political debate on the next seven-year EU budget framework has begun.
He emphasized that the Commission’s proposals in this regard are not heading in the right direction, as “EU funds are becoming increasingly dependent on political and ideological pressure, the Commission is gaining new powers at the expense of both the Council and the member states,
the restructuring of the budget is further limiting the Member States’ ability to control the budget and shape budgetary policy, and the institutional balance is being upset.”
“This proposal is not even acceptable as a basis for negotiation; the process needs to be placed on fundamentally new pillars,” he said.
The minister also highlighted that a French initiative was on the agenda, according to which civil society organizations whose activities are extreme, violate the fundamental values of the EU, or are anti-Semitic in nature should not receive support from EU funds. Hungary fundamentally supports the initiative, he added, and pointed out that the European Union needs to review its strategy against anti-Semitism due to the dramatic and spectacular rise in anti-Semitic incidents and growing anti-Semitism in Europe.
“Hungary is a leader in this area and can serve as a good example. The fight against anti-Semitism is a common cause for the soul and future of Europe, so further action is needed, and we expect much more decisive action from the Commission in this area,” emphasized János Bóka.
Via MTI; Featured photo: European Parliament / Alexis HAULOT
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