Fidesz MEP Tamás Deutsch said mainstream European Union policies have “demolished” the bloc’s unity, and the next task to restore that unity.
Speaking on the sidelines of the European Parliament session in which the working program of the Swedish presidency was presented, Deutsch said that by “backstabbing” member states protecting the common borders against illegal migration, the EU had started to “dismantle European unity”. The “political witch-hunt” under the pretext of rule-of-law procedures was another step in this direction, he said. Those procedures were clearly a form of “political pressure and blackmail,” he added. “We will have to work to restore the EU’s unity that Brussels has dismantled,” Deutsch said. That hinges on all EU institutions adhering to EU treaties and respecting the bloc’s cultural and political diversity, he said.
Regarding the Swedish presidency’s program, Deutsch said Hungary was on board with the importance of protecting the rule of law. Regarding corruption charges against several MEPs, Deutsch said the EP had “significant resources” at hand to investigate the bribery cases, “but they are shooting at sparrows” by using them “in connection with alleged corruption cases in member states”. Meanwhile, the accused MEPs have been in regular contact with the Hungarian opposition, he said. Fidesz MEPs will propose introducing the Hungarian asset declaration form to the EU, he said. As the EC itself seems to think the Hungarian legal system is able to combat corruption, its implementation in the EP may help similar efforts there, he added.