Hungary has successfully completed the first phase of the fight against the coronavirus, following which Hungary will be among the first EU Member States to terminate the special legal order, Justice Minister Judit Varga stated in an article published on the Brussels news portal EUObserver on Thursday.
“We have managed so far to prevent the pandemic from reaching tragic proportions similar to some Member States. This has been possible because the Hungarian government took all the necessary measures in due time and could rely on the sacrifice and discipline of the Hungarian citizens,” the Minister wrote.
The extraordinary governance structure chosen by Hungary served its purpose and served it well. The state of danger provided a legal framework that allowed quick and effective response. Without the state of danger, none of the necessary measures could have been taken on time and some of the measures that saved lives could not have been taken at all, she underlined.
She highlighted that with the submission of the draft law repealing the act prolonging the state of danger, it must be clear for everyone that measures taken under the state of danger are not only necessary, proportionate and successful but also temporary.
With the stabilisation of the epidemic situation, on 26 May, the government submitted a draft law to Parliament that calls for the termination of the state of danger and repeals the law of 30 March 2020, she said.
Ms. Varga recalled that Hungary has been facing an unprecedented, coordinated political campaign and hysteria for months in relation to the introduction of the state of danger. The Hungarian government was attacked during the most difficult period in the fight against the pandemic, and the attacks questioned the measures it has taken and undermined the legitimacy of its decisions. The fake news that the Hungarian Parliament was shut down went viral and even the Speaker of the National Assembly could not convince Western opinion makers otherwise. Suddenly, it was in Hungary where fundamental rights were in danger and not in countries where the application of the European Convention on Human Rights was suspended.
“Curiously, it was the Hungarian state of danger, a special legal order regulated by our constitution, that was portrayed as an extra-constitutional situation and not the ad-hoc solutions adopted in some Member States through special legislation or constitutional bricolage,” she wrote.
The extraordinary measures introduced in Hungary are not unique in a European comparison – with the exception of being the only ones to grant additional prerogatives to Parliament compared to the constitutional framework, she highlighted.
“Even though the Commission was quick to voice its particular concerns about Hungary, it is yet to make its own comparative analysis public, which has been promised so many times, so that we can share our knowledge in a fair and open constitutional dialogue,” she pointed out.
In her writing, the Minister borrowed the words of a famous song by Sir Elton John: ‘What do I say when it’s all over?’
“A very pertinent question for all the critiques of the exceptional measures taken by the Hungarian government. In an ideal world, Hungary would be entitled to an apology. But we all know that sorry seems to be the hardest word,” Ms. Varga added.