Fidesz MEP Balázs Hidvéghi said Hungary must receive “every euro cent” it is entitled to “without further delay”, adding that “ideological blackmail” was unacceptable.
During the European Parliament’s plenary session in a debate on the rule of law in Hungary, Hidvéghi said that the EP wanted to suspend the country’s voting rights because they didn’t agree on important political matters. This “is an absolute new low”, he said, adding: “that is a dictatorship.” Regarding Ukraine, Hidvéghi called for an immediate ceasefire and peace talks. Member states should support Ukraine independently from the EU’s budget, and not from a joint loan, he said, adding that Hungary was ready to contribute to such a facility from its own budget resources. Fidesz MEP Ádám Kósa noted that according to the European Commission, Hungary has fulfilled all rule of law requirements regarding the judiciary, and warned that the EP had “no role in those issues”. He also slammed the European leftist parties for a “revenge campaign” against Hungary solely because a Christian Democrat, civic government had won four consecutive elections there with a two-thirds support. “If MEPs indeed apply no double standards, they should stand up against violations of the law in Poland, to show they are truly concerned for the rule of law.”
Katalin Cseh, an MEP of opposition Momentum, said the EC was unaware of the “damage it has done by giving in to Viktor Orbán’s blackmail.” She said the step had “invited not just Orbán, but every single aspiring European autocrat to follow the same old extortionist tactics.” Besides the judiciary reform praised by the EC, Hungary also adopted a Sovereignty Protection Act, which she said would hinder the work of international NGOs, gag free media and everyone who would “stand up against this regime”. “The European Parliament will not stay silent; we will remain the only protector of democratic values among the EU institutions,” she said. Márton Gyöngyösi, an MEP of the opposition Jobbik – Conservatives, called it “extremely detrimental” to Hungary that “Orbán’s politics resulted in such initiatives as the suspension of voting rights in the EU Council, stripping Hungary of the EU presidency, or withholding EU funds.” While the EU institutions stood up for democratic values, “they also override sections of the treaties with politically motivated initiatives,” he warned. “If they really want to do something against Orbán and his regime, they shouldn’t shame Hungary as a whole and propose measures that hit all Hungarians, but rather ones targeting the leader of the regime and his oligarchs,” Gyöngyösi said.