Hungary believes not in political accusations and lecturing, but in solidarity, genuine action and assistance, and rejects double standards, Justice Minister Judit Varga told the Hungarian news agency MTI on Wednesday.

After a video conference of the General Affairs Council, the Minister said the main topic of the virtual meeting was national and EU action against the coronavirus epidemic and its consequences. At the beginning of the meeting, Vice President of the European Commission Vera Jourova confirmed that the body was working on a study extending to all Member States, examining the extraordinary measures they had adopted, she explained. She added that the Commission Vice President did not mention even in general that the measures of any Member State would give rise to concern.

She observed that this report was not yet public; it had not yet been officially adopted by the Commission.

Ms. Varga highlighted that in Hungary’s view, the debate should be based on facts, rather than on empty accusations, and therefore she sent her own report to the Commission. They prepared a table extending to all Member States in which they compared the constitutional frameworks and details of extraordinary measures, she said.

She stressed that when it comes to rule of law, it is imperative that this debate should be diverted to legal and factual foundations as quite a few politicians made unacceptable statements. While the Commission has not even presented its own analysis yet, some have already “advanced” the findings and “started levelling loud political accusations”. It was especially unfair that the German social democrat Michael Roth made statements in an unacceptable tone in the German press, she recalled.

The Minister said Hungary rejects all this as common values cannot be used for dividing the community. These values are equally important for every Member State, and so they cannot be used for dividing the community and generating tensions among Member States, she underlined.

She highlighted that instead, especially at a time of crisis, “we believe in the solidarity of the EU” both within and outside European borders. To this end, Hungary itself has made efforts, and has provided protective supplies not only for its EU neighbours, but also for the Western Balkans countries awaiting accession. “We believe not in political accusations and lecturing, but in solidarity, genuine action and assistance, and reject double standards,” she said.

Ms. Varga pointed out that the meeting of European ministers usually prepares the ground for an EU summit which will be held on Thursday, also as part of a video conference. At this point, the framework within which European institutions will seek to manage the long-term economic impacts of the crisis is not yet fully developed, she stated.

She said Hungary accepts that “in a situation that is extraordinary even at EU level, extraordinary measures are required” but it is very important that the fundamental values of the EU – such as solidarity, non-discrimination and the exclusion of double standards – should be enforced, and Member States which are successfully managing the crisis should be rewarded, not punished. Quality is much more important; we need more European action, not more Europe, she added.

The Minister also said, before the epidemic, negotiations relating to the EU’s multiannual financial framework were under way, and in February these came to a kind of dead-end. The epidemic – with the setting in of new circumstances – could offer a new dimension, but at the end of the day, this is a budget for a period of seven years, and so the fundamental principles upon which the EU budget has always been built – in which cohesion policy plays a prominent role – cannot be disregarded, she pointed out.

She took the view that “these fundamental principles cannot shine any less bright now,” and Hungary is a partner to all solutions which provide a balanced response – duly taking the interests of all Member States into consideration – to the management of the economic crisis. However, this cannot in any way impair cohesion policy.

(Ministry of Justice / MTI)