Hungarian MEPs were divided on Wednesday over a new mechanism included in the European Commission’s budget proposal for 2021-27, which could penalise member states that undermine the rule of law.
According to MTI, the Socialists welcomed the plan while independent MEP Krisztina Morvai interpreted it as an attempt to “blackmail” Hungary.
Morvai, who split from the Jobbik party, said there is no problem with the rule of law in Spain, “where police could beat hundreds of Catalans bloody.”
In a statement she said the EU had also not expressed concern when anti-government protests in Hungary regularly turned violent in the autumn of 2006, leading to clashes between protestors and police. “We will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed,” Morvai said.