Hungary’s Minister of Justice, Judit Varga, appeared today before an expert committee hearing in the General Affairs Council within the framework of the ongoing Article 7 procedure against Hungary. Following the hearing, she had some choice words about the session.
“The current offensives began more than a year ago, but their real cause is that Hungary and Hungarians have refused since 2015 to allow the policies of the pro-immigration political forces,” said the minister after the hearing. “That’s why they’re attacking us because we said no to migration.”
The minister spent nearly two hours providing a detailed rebuttal of the charges made against Hungary. The topics were the familiar ones, ranging from the media in Hungary to the justice system and the reorganization of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Not a few of these have already been resolved with the Commission or other European institutions and more than a few simply do not fall under the authority of the European Union.
Following the hearing, Frans Timmermans said that the European Commission has not formulated a recommendation concerning Hungary. Instead, he said, there will be more hearings.
So while Minister of Justice Varga provided an exhaustive answer to every question raised today, we’ve hardly heard the last of this. The revenge campaign, it seems, will continue.