Commenting on EC President Ursula von der Leyen’s announcement last week of a rule-of-law review of Hungary, Justice Minister Judit Varga said: “Hungary has not been sent a letter, and, as far as I understand, the meeting of the College of Commissioners on the decision has not yet been called; this is expected to take place in late April. We must receive the letter first and thoroughly review it.”
Minister Varga added that the full system of rule-of-law conditions is based on a December 2020 political agreement between EU leaders and the EC. The conditions were clearly agreed on at the time and the mechanism is applicable in terms of the new financial framework and the recovery fund, she added. “If Hungary has not received funding from these resources, then how could we spend them in an irregular way?” she said. “This is a legal concern and also a concern regarding its content,” she said.
Minister Varga said that when countries become EU member states, their markets are opened up and cohesion strengthens development between them, “with the least developed countries advancing their economic development and everyone getting a decent share”. Varga cited a former German commissioner who said “every cent we invest in central and eastern Europe adds a further 76 cents to German GDP.” She added that the excellent performance of Hungary’s economy had been an important element in the government’s election win. “We rank in second place in terms of economic growth,” she said. Poland, “a country with which Hungary has had centuries of partnership based on historical and constitutional similarities,” ranks in first place, she said. “We have always been friends and this will remain the case in the future, too,” she said.
Photo credit: Facebook/Varga Judit