The state of emergency and the extraordinary measures are congruent with the Treaties and Hungarian Constitution, Minister of State for International Communication and Relations Zoltán Kovács stated in a Twitter message on Tuesday in response to a statement issued by the President of the European Commission regarding emergency measures adopted by Member States.

In her statement, Ursula von der Leyen wrote, governments need to have the necessary tools to act rapidly and effectively to protect the public health of citizens. She said it is of utmost importance that emergency measures are not at the expense of our fundamental principles and values as set out in the Treaties. She also underlined that any emergency measures must be limited to what is necessary and strictly proportionate, and “must not last indefinitely”.

In his Twitter message, the Minister of State highlighted that “we completely agree” with the President of the European Commission, and therefore, the measures adopted are targeted exclusively at fighting the coronavirus. They uphold EU values, rule of law, and press freedom, Mr Kovács added.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)