Earlier today, during the Strasbourg sitting of the European Parliament plenary session, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán countered the forces in the EU that – for the first time in its history – aim to stigmatize a whole nation merely because it dared to reject illegal migration and refused to become an immigrant country.
According to the prime minister, the report on the state of Hungary’s rule-of-law, nicknamed the Sargentini Report after the Dutch Green Party rapporteur, poses a serious problem for the EU as it disregards the many agreements and compromises – for example, on the media law, the judicial system, and even certain passages in Hungary’s new constitution – that the Hungarian government has struck with the European Commission in recent years.
“The backbone of our Union is that we are able to settle our debates in a regulated manner,” Prime Minister Orbán said, asking that if MEPs can just kick aside these official agreements from one second to another, then “why would it be worthwhile to reach an agreement with any of the European institutions?”
By passing the Sargentini Report, the prime minister continued, “the European Parliament takes a jab at constructive dialogue and the Union itself.”
Speaking about the report’s flaws, the prime minister highlighted that the report denies Hungarian people the respect they deserve and that it employs double standards. “The report contains 37 factual errors,” PM Orbán said reminding that prior to the debate each MEP was handed a 108-page document listing the report’s errors.
“We, Hungarians, are ready for the elections next May, where finally European people can decide about Europe’s future,” he said, emphasizing the importance of the upcoming European Parliamentary elections.
Although, “this would be the first time that a community condemned its own border guards,” the prime minister said in closing, “Hungary will not yield to blackmail, it is going to halt illegal migration and defend its rights - even against you, if need be.”