The European Parliament has rejected a request made by the Hungarian Minister of Justice, Judit Varga, to speak at the online session on the Hungarian coronavirus legislative package, which is upsetting the Brussels autocrats.
On Wednesday, the European Parliament discussed a decision that was made by the Hungarian Parliament, which gave Prime Minister Viktor Orban the power to rule by decree during the coronavirus crisis.
Despite the fact that the Hungarian Parliament, where Orban’s Fidesz has a two-thirds majority, has the power to revoke Orban’s powers at any time, the Brussels bureaucrats, unelected representatives and members of the European Parliament are bothered by the fact that Orban can operate effectively and without unnecessary delays, which proved to be extremely important during the time of the coronavirus crisis.
Hungarians were deprived of their right to fair representation
Members of the European Parliament and EU member states took part in the discussion, but what is surprising, is the decision of the EU Parliament, to not allow the Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga to address everyone gathered, in order to clarify certain things. According to Politico, the EP President’s chief of staff, Lorenzo Manelli, rejected the possibility, stating that any “intervention” from a member state could only take place at “the level of head of state and government.” He added that “no remote participation” would be possible at the session, despite the extraordinary circumstances.
Such a claim, however, is extremely misleading. After all, this meeting of the MEPs, as well as two previous ones, mainly took place online. A handful of them showed up in Brussels to read their speeches, while the other MEPs followed the meeting online. Mannelli’s statement turned out to be a lie, the sole purpose of which was to prevent the Hungarians from being able to defend themselves against the accusations from those hostile towards them.
President of the European Parliament, Sassoli, insists on the procedures that are otherwise not followed
Varga also wrote to the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, accusing him of insisting on procedures, instead of following “the most fundamental element of the principle of fair treatment.” With this, she referred to the fact that at the meetings of the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Council are usually represented by the people who are not at the leading positions in their respective countries. But in this case, Hungary is not allowed to do so.
“Not only does the Parliament decide to hold such a debate in these exceptional times, when all our energy should be focused on tackling the pandemic, but it refuses to ensure fair representation, which, however, is fundamental in any democratic debate,” Varga wrote.
Ivan Šokić