In answer to the question of the Hungarian news agency MTI, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó described Frans Timmermans’ statements as “pathetic accusations”.
According to Mr Szijjártó, “the First Vice-President of the European Commission has attacked Hungary in the past two years because, despite the Commission’s and his own personal position, we have been able to give a successful response to illegal immigration”.
Poland, too, refuses any kind of blackmail on the part of the European Commission which transgresses its powers by far, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told MTI on Wednesday in Warsaw in response to the fact that Frans Timmerman, First Vice-President of the European Commission pointed out that Brussels is contemplating the imposition of measures with a view to the protection of the EU’s fundamental values in Hungary.
Mr Waszczykowski said this at the press conference held with the participation of the heads of Czech, Slovak and Hungarian diplomacy and Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement after the Warsaw meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Visegrád Group (V4) and the six countries of the Eastern Partnership.
“Poland stressed several times that it is not prepared to yield to blackmail of this type on the part of the European Commission”, Mr Waszczykowski said. He pointed out: the European Commission should proceed as guardian in respect of the four EU freedoms laid down in the Treaties, “but should not have powers as broad as to oversee every measure the Member States choose to implement”.
The Member States of the EU are “sovereign and independent, and are tied together by adequate treaties, but the European Commission, and in particular, Mr Timmermans transgress their powers by far”, the Polish Prime Minister said in evaluation.
The Foreign Ministers of the V4 and six Eastern-European and Transcaucasian States had talks on Wednesday in Warsaw before the EU summit to be held in November with respect to the Eastern Partnership. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Croatia, Malta, Romania, Sweden and Slovenia.