Fidesz MEP: EP LIBE Committee debate ‘another political attack against Hungary’
Laszlo told the press after the LIBE Committee meeting that it had been “a fully unbelievable cynical stage act”, with special regard to the fact that the European Commission’s assessments of the National Card Programme has not revealed any proof that there would be reasons for concern.
The MEPs addressing the debate who asked questions from Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson about the regulations could have also received information from the Hungarian government’s representative, considering the Minister for European Union Affairs Janos Boka was in the EP on Wednesday, and even held a press conference on the subject, he said. It was an expressed request by the Patriots for Europe group to invite representatives of the Hungarian government because dialogue could only have developed if both sides had been present, he added.
The committee rejected the request and the participants addressing Wednesday’s debate were unable to specify any concrete objection to the current regulations, Laszlo said. The commissioner even said that no legal problems had been identified, he added.
Johansson said that a very small number of permits had been issued and there was not such a significant scale of influx that the international press and several western European politicians had indicated.
“The politicians addressing the debate, including the representatives of the European People’s Party which had initiated the debate, were not interested in the responses and the facts,” Laszlo said. “It was absurd, partly infuriating, but also revealing that the debate was nothing else than another political attack against Hungary,” he said.
In response to a question, he said further developments could be expected because Johansson had expressed “further concerns” about the Hungarian regulations.
“The pressure on Hungary will be immense; the attacks will continue in order to break Hungary’s anti-war policies, but we will obviously resist and we will protect Hungarian interests,” he said.
