Pro-immigration forces are conducting a revenge campaign against Hungary because it stood up against European migration policy, Minister for International Communication and Relations Zoltán Kovács stated on the public service television news channel M1 on Monday.

On Monday in Brussels, Justice Minister Judit Varga was heard by the General Affairs Council in the proceedings instituted against Hungary under Article Seven.

According to Mr Kovács, the lesson of the day was that European institutions are being used as political means. They are conducting a revenge campaign against a country for which, on the one hand, they have no authorisation, and which on the other – as it has transpired – does not in any way reflect the will and considerations of the majority of Member States.

He highlighted that they are trying to turn a political procedure into a legal procedure. It is a fundamental problem that while the rule of law is an important basic principle for everyone, the content of the rule of law, the procedures and the relationship between institutions are not comparable. For instance, the conceptual differences between the Hungarian and Polish procedures do not allow objective comparison.

The Minister of State also said the fact that they would tie the distribution of EU funds to further conditions entirely rules out the concept of the rule of law. This could only take place after the decision of the Member States, based on the EU’s Treaties, he observed.

According to Mr Kovács, “the most obvious problem” with the proceedings instituted against Hungary is financial responsibility over which they are taking Hungary to task. This is, in truth, about the fact that they want others to pay for the costs of the integration of the migrants let into Europe in recent years. This is the revenge of pro-migration forces on those who reject this approach, he added.