Evaluating the EU summit concluded at the beginning of the week, the Justice Minister said Hungary has won a battle, but the “fight” will continue in EU institutions.
On Kossuth Radio’s programme ‘Sunday Paper’, Judit Varga said left-liberal forces do not want to accept that there are some who hold different views on Europe’s Christian roots, immigration, multiculturalism and the role of families.
While they now lost a battle as they were unable to build a mechanism for exerting pressure – “an ideological weapon” – into the agreement of the heads of state and government and the EU’s budget, they will not give up the fight, she pointed out.
She described the decision-making mechanism as complicated and lengthy, but in her view what is most important is that for the time being the European Union rests on the foundations of an alliance of states, “we’re not talking about a superpower that transcends nations” and so the agreement of the heads of state and government, the conclusions of the European Council designate the political directions.
The agreement of 21 July defined specific directions in connection with the seven-year financial framework, the rescue package called Next Generation EU and the method of disbursement from the fund. EU institutions will be required to adopt the details, the Justice Minister said.
Ms. Varga stressed that already at the time of the coronavirus crisis the European Parliament “was part of the problem, not of the solution” by having “attacked” Hungary in connection with the special legal order.
She said also now one can see that due to their political bias, they are “blind to reality”. They fail to see that large EU countries are in very serious trouble as their sovereign debts could rise to 150 to 160 per cent to GDP within seconds, and founder states could be faced with the threat of bankruptcy.
She added that the European Parliament’s historical responsibility lies in whether they will accept the agreement which is the consensus of 27 Member States based on a precarious political and financial balance.
The Justice Minister said it is a significant achievement that with the agreement of the heads of state and government – which in her view is the achievement of the Polish and Hungarian alliance – they managed to remove political considerations from the agreement on the multiannual financial framework, and they also laid down the importance of the rule of law as a principle.
She highlighted that there is no dispute among Member States regarding the significance of European values. The Treaties of the EU themselves provide for the need to respect freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights.
However, Member States clearly pointed out that the European Commission should not level threats of “sanctions under the guise of the unclear and elusive concept of the rule of law” with reference to financial discipline and the interests of the budget, she said.
Ms. Varga added that the President of the Commission, too, must take the guidance of the heads of state and government into consideration as in the EU, according to the Treaties, the strategic political directions are laid down by the heads of state and government. At the same time, the Commission as the Guardian of the Treaties cannot depart from these directions.
If the heads of state and government lay down that criteria relating to the rule of law cannot be tied to financial conditions, it constitutes clear political guidance, she stressed.
The Justice Minister also spoke about the procedure instituted against Hungary under Article Seven. She said from a legal point of view they had answered all questions, and she expressed hope that during the German presidency the procedure could be brought to a conclusion “within the shortest possible time”.
Regarding the Hungarian opposition, she observed that one could see even during the coronavirus epidemic what the government could expect from the Hungarian Left. She added that during the fight against the virus, they attacked the Hungarian government’s measures even in Brussels.
Also at this time, they are criticising the country and the agreement of the European Council in vigorous political statements, the Minister said.
According to Ms. Varga, we must be prepared for this also in the future, but she said their legal arguments are “absolutely watertight,” and they are working hard to protect the Hungarian people, to defend the fair payments the Hungarian people are entitled to, and to fight against ideological attacks.