The “concrete wall” that the European Union found in Hungary – Observer

The entire mission of the European Parliament was surrounded by a climate of intimidation. The commission’s visit led by Delbos-Corfield dates back to the process open to Hungary under Article 7 of European Union Treaty, which provides for EU actions when there are suspicions that a member state may violate the principles of the rule of law, and acquires new importance at the time when the European Commission decided to postpone the allocation of new European funds to the state due to these same doubts. Even before Gwendolyn and her colleagues arrived in Budapest, Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga had already greeted them on Twitter like this: “Finally we can ask them face to face why they think European institutions can misuse their power.”

delegation from Tweet embed Come to me # Budapest This Thursday. Finally, we can ask them #face 2 face Why do they think so #I Organizations can abuse their power. We look forward to the meeting, but we have no illusions.

– Judit Varga (@JuditVarga_EU) September 28, 2021

The mission of the EP Freedoms Committee, better known as LIBE, is led by Gwendolyn, but has a representative from each parliamentary group, which, in addition to the Green Party, includes PPE (center-right), socialists (center-left), European left (radical left), renewing Europe (liberals), identity and democracy (nationalists and the far right) and conservatives and reformists (the Euroskeptic right). Although the final report of the trip will not be presented until in the next few months (“hopefully before Christmas”, says the head of the commission), the press conference to expose first impressions has already made it clear that the most certain thing is the consensus on Budapest’s criticisms among the various Committee members – with the exception of representatives of the nationalists and the far right.

Nothing the government of Viktor Orban did not expect: on the eve of the arrival of the mission, a deputy from his party, Fidesz, group rated How do A collection of “Five Crazy Women and Two Ordinary Men”.. The men, of course, are Nicolas Bay, of Identity and Democracy, and Jorge Boxadei Villabla, of Conservatives and Reformists. The group conducted 85 interviews in total, which ranged from ministers and judges, including journalists, representatives of NGOs, academics, opposition leaders and cultural representatives. “The goal has always been to listen to people who are loyal to the government and people who are critical of the government,” Delbus-Corfield assures the Observer.