Hungary’s foreign minister has said that the special report on Hungary being drawn up by the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) is the basic document of a show trial.
Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, made the remark following a question from reporters in Brussels on Wednesday.
The minister said the draft report includes assorted lies and factual errors that call into question the credibility of the whole document.
He highlighted how Hungary’s economic figures have been improving continuously since 2010, and this would not have been possible if systemic corruption mechanisms were in place as put forward by the CONT Committee.
“If systemic corruption is present in a country, it is incapable of producing economic indices such as those produced by the Hungarian economy over the past eight years,” he said.
“I reject in the strongest possible terms the accusations that appear in the Committee’s opinion,” he added.
According to kormany.hu, the CONT Committee will also be adding its opinion to the upcoming LIBE report. The report, which is due to be voted on in June, is expected to be put before the plenary session of the European Parliament in the autumn, based on which it could initiate Article 7 proceedings against Hungary for “violating the law”.
The EP’s constitution, cultural and education, budget auditing and women’s rights committees will also be attaching their official opinions to the LIBE report.