EU Parliament lifts Jobbik MEP’s immunity

A left-wing and a pro-government pundit agree that during the investigation into an MEP‘s alleged spying activity for Russia (see BudaPost through May 20, 2014) Jobbik will have to clarify if it is in any way inked to the Russian secret services.

The European Parliament’s decision to lift Béla Kovács’s immunity was welcomed by all parties in the Hungarian Parliament,including Jobbik.

In Magyar Idők, Dávid Megyeri hopes that the waiving of MEP Kovács’s immunity will open up the way to an investigation of his ties to the Russian secret services. Megyeri notes that in addition to Kovács’s personal involvement, Jobbik’s role should also be clarified. Although Jobbik now welcomes the EP’s decision to lift their MEP’s immunity, Megyeri suspects that the investigation may unearth evidence of Jobbik’s ties to foreign secret services.

Jobbik has the most to fear from the investigation, Gábor Czene comments in Népszabadság. The left-wing columnist recalls that last year Jobbik defended Kovács, demanding that his immunity should not be waived and accused the Orbán government of illegally monitoring an MEP. Czene speculates that Jobbik now wants to distance itself from Mr Kovács in order to clear the party of accusations of cooperating with foreign secret services. In an aside, Czene notes that Fidesz may also be worried about the investigation, since it may reveal that national security services leaked classified information on Kovács in order to weaken Jobbik in the 2014 EP election campaign.

Tags: EU, European Parliament, Jobbik, Russia, secret services