European Commission scrutinizes rule of law in Hungary

A pro-government columnist contends that the European Commission rule of law report on Hungary mirrors the views of the ‘Soros network’, and will be used to blackmail Hungary. A left-wing commentator finds the report justified and factual.

On Wednesday, the European Commission released its rule of law country reports which as expected was extremely critical of Hungary and Poland. According to the report on Hungary, judicial independence, media freedom and transparency are being compromised. Minister of Justice Judit Varga dismissed that assessment as based on information ‘provided by a network of NGOs that launched a coordinated attack on Hungary.’ Gergely Gulyás, the Minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Office said that the report was ‘dictated by George Soros’.

Magyar Hírlap’s Gábor Putsay thinks that the European Commission is using rule of law criteria to ‘blackmail’ Hungary. The pro-government commentator agrees with government officials in finding that the report echoes the opinion of the ‘Soros network’. Putsay believes that the report will be used to withhold EU recovery funds from Hungary. He finds it abhorrent that the opposition parties cooperate with Brussels on this issue and are out to weaken Hungary. He is confident, however, that these efforts will fail as Hungary has the resources and a strong enough economy to overcome the coronavirus slowdown.

In Népszava, Miklós Hargitai finds the government’s reaction to the EC rule of law report ‘hysterical and absurd’. The left-wing commentator contends that the report gives a fair and factual account of Hungary, including government corruption, the ruling party’s domination of the media and governmental interference with judicial independence.

Tags: democracy, European Commission, Judit Varga, rule of law