The European Commission estimated on Monday May 23 that the situation of the rule of law continued to deteriorate in Hungary, during a meeting of European Affairs Ministers, expressing concern about the lack of independence of the media regulator and the use of the Pegasus spyware by the authorities.
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Hungarian Minister Judit Varga was questioned by her peers during this meeting, as part of a procedure launched against her country in 2018 by the European Parliament for "
clear risk of a serious breach of European values
".
This was the fourth such hearing.
“
On behalf of the Commission we see no progress;
on the contrary there have even been further deteriorations
,” said EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, who participated in the discussion.
He cited the Hungarian law prohibiting the discussion with minors of "
gender reassignment and homosexuality
", denouncing its discriminatory nature against the LGBT community.
The Commission's concerns also relate to "
the question of the independence of the media regulator
", "
all of whose members
" were appointed by the ruling Fidesz, and which refused to renew the broadcasting license of the station independent radio station Klubradio, detailed the Belgian commissioner during a press conference.
Commenting on the April legislative elections, which resulted in another victory for nationalist leader Viktor Orban, who has been in power for 12 years, Didier Reynders reported on the OSCE's preliminary findings calling into question "
the bias of the media or the opaque campaign finance
”.
He also referred to "
problems with the independence of the judiciary or the use of spyware like Pegasus by the Hungarian authorities
”.
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“Political pressure” from the European Union
“
Our assessment is that the situation is not good in Hungary
”, also commented the Vice-President of the Commission in charge of values and transparency, Vera Jourova.
Minister Judit Varga for her part affirmed that the Hungarian people had by their vote expressed their “
support for the European policy of the Hungarian government
”, denouncing “
political pressure
” exerted by the EU.
She also justified her country's blocking of the adoption of the sixth package of EU sanctions providing for an oil embargo against Russia, in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
"
As a landlocked country, it is essential that Hungary's continued supply and energy security be guaranteed.
So we are waiting for a new proposal first, and then we can move forward
,” she explained.
“
We are in discussions with the Commission
,” she added.
Hungary depends on oil brought from Russia through the Druzhba pipeline.
Budapest has put the cost of halting its purchases of Russian oil at between 15 and 18 billion euros to explain its request to exempt pipeline supplies from the EU's oil embargo plan.
In the absence of progress this week, the question of the embargo should be invited to the European summit of May 30-31.
