In a long interview given to the newspaper Magyar Nemzet, Justice Minister Judit Varga stressed that everyone should be brave and stay true to their own principles. In her view, in Western Europe sincere words uttered without political restraint have a liberating effect; at the same time, Hungary is looked upon in the European Union with a presumption of guilt.
In the Saturday issue of the newspaper, she said the coronavirus legislation passes the test of the rule of law, and daily life itself proves that freedom of press is not in danger in Hungary.
The Minister said the reason why she published an article in the German newspaper Die Welt about the government’s political views is because she is well aware of the image presented by the press about Hungary, and she felt there was a need to counter it so that readers themselves can decide – based on access to balanced information – what is true, and to ensure that they are not misinformed.
According to the Justice Minister, the legitimacy of the debate in the European Parliament about Hungary – which was also supported by MEPs from the European People’s Party – is also questionable.
In Ms. Varga’s opinion, the fact that the German Federal Constitutional Court overruled a decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union this week will most certainly be a milestone.
“Lawyers have long been waiting for the moment when it is finally decided who has the last word in cases where there is a clash between EU and Member State powers. Who has the right to say who has the right to decide on what issues?” she said. “According to our position – which envisages the EU as an entity resting on the foundations of strong Member States – it is clearly the sovereign Member State, and the ultimate custodian of this right is the constitutional court. The German constitutional court’s decision has confirmed the position that, from this respect, the European Union is not equal to a United States of Europe.”
In the context of the legislation relating to scaremongering, the Minister highlighted that the essence of the special legal order is that while in peacetime individual rights can stand above the interests of the community, in a state of danger the interests and safety of the community take priority over the individual’s fulfilment. In such a situation, everyone must be more disciplined as today, regardless of one’s geographical location, with the means of telecommunications fake news can be easily channelled to millions of people with a single click of a computer mouse.
The Justice Minister also said since the state of danger was declared, they have carried out an enormous amount of work, many decrees have been issued, and the work of lawyers has minimum doubled. She added that the codification of many legislative acts has now been deprioritised; however, they will want to complete the annual legislative plan.