“When cloaked political proceedings are conducted against Hungary because of its differing opinion with relation to immigration, the European values professed by the European Union are damaged”, Minister of State for EU Relations Judit Varga declared in a telephone statement to Hungarian news agency MTI from Brussels on Monday.

Following the fourth session of the European Commission’s Fundamental Rights Colloquium on the fundamental elements of democracy, the democratic values that link the Europeans and current challenges, the Minister of State from the Prime Minister’s Office stressed that the fact that if a member state puts forward an opinion that differs from the mainstream serious accusations are immediately made against them such as nationalism or populism, does not contribute to the success of the European Union.

In her opinion, liberal Europe may be called to question for not listening to and not accepting differing opinions.

From among these issues, the most outstanding is differing approaches to migration, in which case “the defamation of those who think differently can in no way be called democratic”, she underlined.

“Hungary expects fair procedure and respect for differing opinions, because it would like a Europe in which strong nations work together in close cooperation and recognise each other’s opinions”, she highlighted.

“Hungary’s opinion is that credibility is the most important factor in a democracy; that political decisions are made in harmony with the will of the electorate”, Ms. Vihar emphasised. “The Hungarian Government has been acting in this spirit for years, the best example of which is that during the course of National Consultations they regularly ask people’s opinions on the most important and most sensitive issues. Hungary recommends that decisions are made in line with the will of the voters”, she highlighted.

The Minister of State told the press that at the session she drew attention to the fact that Hungary regards it as a problem that in certain parts of Europe the link between the political elite and the electorate has been severed and the distance between them has increased.

“The political elite has broken away from reality, and accordingly their decisions are not in harmony with and do not mirror the opinion of the people. It is important that we change this”, she stated.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)