In the midst of a pandemic when in Europe people are dying in the thousands and people are losing their jobs in the millions in consequence of the virus, the European Parliament (EP) wants to conduct a debate on the state of the rule of law in Hungary – Justice Minister Judit Varga told Hungarian news agency MTI.

As Judit Varga pointed out, the EP would conduct a debate on Wednesday for the umpteenth time about the rule of law in Hungary, calling into question the democratic nature of the law, which enables containment efforts against the epidemic.

She called attention to the fact that at the same time, with complete disregard for the most fundamental principle regarding the right to a fair trial, the European Parliament’s left-liberal majority want to pass judgement on Hungary without enabling the Hungarian Government to state its position in the Brussels debate.

In her opinion, the procedure of the EP disregards the most fundamental democratic rights, and they also fail to acknowledge the European Commission’s official position that asserts that the Hungarian coronavirus legislation is not contrary to EU law.

In an official letter, the EP’s Socialist President David Sassoli refused to grant the Hungarian justice minister the opportunity to speak either in person or online in the debate of the European Parliament – currently operating in remote mode – about Hungary, Judit Varga added. In light of this, the European Parliament wants to have a debate about rule of law and fundamental democratic values whilst removing the fundamental pillar of the right to a fair trial, the hearing of the party concerned, she noted.

She said it is unprecedented that by making a mockery of the rule of law, the European Parliament’s leadership denies Hungary the right to a fair trial with reference to internal procedural rules.

She added: In the past few weeks, Hungary has faced unfounded political attacks on an unprecedented scale in the European Union, despite the fact that European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova herself stated that the Hungarian coronavirus legislation was not contrary to European law. Regardless of this, the EP wants to conduct a debate about Hungary again, instead of focusing all its energies on promoting the efforts of Member States in the fight against the epidemic.

The basis of any democratic debate is that the party concerned must be given an opportunity to state their opinion. However, the European Parliament – “going against European fundamental values once again” – has denied Hungary this opportunity, the Minister stressed. This shows that the debate is about the rule of law only on the surface as the European Parliament fails to respect both European norms and its own procedural rules, she pointed out.

Regarding the matter, Judit Varga will consult with Commission Vice President Vera Jourova by telephone on Tuesday, and will send an official reply to President David Sassoli in which she will repeatedly call upon the European Parliament to enable a member of the Hungarian Government to state its position in a debate about Hungary.

(MTI)