Katalin Novák, Deputy leader of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, has told German daily Die Welt that Hungary will only agree to give its assent to the European Union’s coronavirus rescue fund if Brussels ends Article 7 proceedings against the country.
“Member states must not be pressurised on the rule of law issue, which is easily politicised,” Novák said. “Article 7 proceedings against Hungary must be terminated,” she said, adding that Hungary’s parliament had endorsed this demand.
The Hungarian parliament has bound the prime minister to negotiate a fair deal, one in which poorer countries do not receive proportionately less than richer countries, she said. The allocation of funds must not be politicised, according to this remit, she added.
Novák insisted that Hungary “is a state based on the rule of law and this will remain the case.” Each of Hungary’s new laws, including the new constitution, was reviewed and approved by Brussels after 2011. “The rule of law allegations were unfounded,” she said. Now, the charges were resurfacing. Novák insisted there were no objective or clearly definable criteria regarding the rule of law that applied to all countries. “We are therefore fundamentally opposed to such procedures,” she said. “And we are not the only ones,” she added.