Reacting to an article by Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod claiming that Poland and Hungary jeopardized the very foundations of the European Union, Zoltán Kovács, State Secretary for International Communications and Relations, said that Kofod’s view was an outlier, even within his own government.
Kovács told Alting that the assertion that Hungary and Poland had “trampled” on democratic values by undermining the independence of the judiciary and stifling media freedom was “a crude statement” unattached to “any irrefutable facts”.
In connection with Kofod’s statements about the rule of law, Kovács said the concept was too ambiguous and ill-defined at an EU level to use as a measure for allocating EU funds to member states. He added that the EU itself had muddied the concept of the rule of law over the past decade.
Just like Denmark, Hungary understood the importance of the EU market and therefore considered upholding European norms and values, including the rule of law, of paramount importance, Kovács said. “It’s not in Hungary’s interest to jeopardize such things by undermining the rule of law, curbing the independence of the judiciary or stifling critical media,” he said.