In answer to an enquiry, the chief of the Prime Minister’s Press Office Bertalan Havasi told Hungarian news agency MTI that "Mr. Orbán takes the view that the question of the death penalty should be kept on the agenda. Naturally, consultations on the matter should also take place at a European level, and on this occasion also the Prime Minister is happy to be at the disposal of President Schulz”.

MTI had contacted Mr. Havasi after Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, announced in Strasbourg on Wednesday that he had initiated a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Orbán in response to his comments on the death penalty.

During his visit to Pécs on Tuesday, Mr. Orbán was asked for his response to the murder committed recently in a tobacco shop in Kaposvár. In reply, the Hungarian prime minister spoke in favour of keeping the issue of the death penalty on the agenda. A few years ago, he said, the Government believed that it had put an end to debate on the Hungarian criminal justice system when it introduced the “three-strikes” law and whole life sentences without parole. Mr. Orbán said that the deterrent effect of these measures has proved to be insufficient, however, adding that it must be made clear to criminals that Hungary will stop at nothing when it comes to the protection of its citizens.

(MTI Hungarian News Agency)