Justice Minister Judit Varga has reiterated the Hungarian government’s support for a recent ruling by Poland’s constitutional court which she said highlighted the “problematic practices” of European Union institutions.
In a statement published on Facebook ahead of a meeting of EU affairs ministers in Luxembourg, Minister Varga said Brussels had “stepped on the gas” and “blackmailed” Hungary and Poland because “we think differently about the world and Europe”. She said Brussels opposed Hungary and Poland’s pro-family policies, their rejection of immigration and their push for “a strong Europe of strong nations instead of an empire”.
“We are and will remain members of this club,” Minister Varga said. “This club has rules that have long been laid down in the Treaties. However, it is Brussels, not us, that wants to break these principles, and to do so by force.” Varga said that in addition to publishing reports on the state of the rule of law in Hungary and Poland and launching infringement procedures against them, the EU was also “blackmailing” the two countries by withholding funds from them that they were entitled to. “While we’re being hounded over the Child Protection Act, Poland is being attacked for blocking the EU’s stealthy transfer of powers,” the minister said. “We’re used to the pressure, Budapest and Warsaw are standing firm, shoulder to shoulder.”
Minister Varga said she agreed with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who said in a letter addressed to EU leaders on Monday that “the principle of the primacy of EU law is not unlimited, but only applies in areas that fall within EU competence”. Powers that have not been transferred to the EU by member states must remain with member states, she cited Morawiecki as saying. “So it is not Hungary and Poland that are breaking the rules of the club, but the Brussels bureaucracy, with these underhand and ideologically biased political games!” Minister Varga said. Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal said in a judgement earlier this month that the Polish constitution had supremacy over EU law in matters in which the bloc had no power.
Photo credit: Facebook/Varga Judit