Right of Reply from the Hungarian government

We firmly imagine that it’s going to keep that approach, and the grown-ups at different EU establishments will chorus from becoming a member of the European Parliament’s newest, politically-motivated marketing campaign in opposition to Hungary. As a result of doing in any other case places in jeopardy the very foundations of the European Union.

Let us take a look at the ‘what if’. What if Hungary have been barred from holding its EU presidency subsequent yr? In a nutshell, it will imply that the European Union departs from what’s laid down within the EU’s founding treaties and withdraws rights from a member state solely based mostly on hypothesis, excessive political beliefs, and anti-Hungary bias.

On this hypothetical state of affairs, member states might be simply stripped of their rights granted by the Treaties just because they’re in disagreement with the European Parliament’s left-liberal majority on sure political points. The sovereign states that make up the Union could be topic to the political whims of the European Parliament.

And that is precisely what the European Parliament needs. It might be the following main step in its decades-long quest for larger energy. I invite everybody to look behind the façade of objectivity and discover the EP’s true intentions.

There’s, nonetheless, one other side of Rafaela and Theuns’ opinion piece that deserves a more in-depth look. The authors argue that Hungary’s EU presidency would “undermine European cooperation in key areas, corresponding to asylum and migration.”

Undermine how? Certain, we’d use the agenda-setting energy of the presidency to spark much-needed dialogue on points which can be essential to us, however, in the long run, any choice would stay within the palms of EU heads of state and authorities. Anybody who believes that the goals and political targets of 1 member state, even when it is holding the rotating presidency, might so simply shift EU insurance policies in its favour merely doesn’t know the fundamentals of how the EU works.

What’s extra, Rafaela and Theuns repeatedly denounce Hungary’s democratic system by calling it names like “deplorable” or “eroded”, but present no information to help these claims. In reality, Hungary’s democracy is alive and kicking, with the widest electoral help behind prime minister Orbán’s authorities in the entire European Union. Voter participation in Hungary, in contrast to turnout for EP elections, has been robust.

The article cites one OSCE report about Hungary’s 2022 elections, however stays quiet about different studies that took no challenge with our electoral procedures. The cited OSCE report discovered the 2022 parliamentary elections provided voters “distinct alternate options” and “have been effectively administered.”

Additionally, it is refreshing to learn that our election system, lengthy criticised by our pals at mainstream media and NGO teams, “gives an satisfactory foundation for the conduct of democratic elections.”

The article goes on to say the EP’s decision that labelled Hungary as an “electoral autocracy”, however that is merely a round reference. They fail to notice that the EP is dominated by an overwhelmingly liberal majority with robust anti-Hungary bias courting again greater than a decade.

This is a ultimate query EUobserver readers ought to severely think about: is not it the aim of the rotating presidency that every member state will get to lift points essential to them on a European degree as soon as each 13 or 14 years?

We should not let the European Parliament destroy this precept just because a member sate takes coverage positions that problem the views held by sure members of the parliament.