Brussels Initiates Proceedings against the Sovereignty Protection Law

The European Commission has sent a letter of formal notice to Hungary over its law on the protection of sovereignty, saying it violates EU law.

The Brussels-based body said in a communication on infringement proceedings that it decided to launch the procedure after a thorough assessment of the new law on the protection of national sovereignty adopted by the Hungarian Parliament on December 12, 2023, and in force since December 22, 2023.

The European Commission (EC) considers that the Hungarian law violates several provisions of EU law, including:

• EU democratic values
• the principle of democracy
• the right to vote for EU citizens
• a number of fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, including the right to respect for private and family life, the right to the protection of personal data, freedom of expression and information, freedom of association, the right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial, the prohibition of self-incrimination and the obligation of legal professional privilege
• EU legal requirements on the protection of personal data and several rules applicable to the internal market.

Hungary has two months to respond to the letter of formal notice. If it fails to remedy the objections raised by the European Commission, the Brussels body may decide to send Hungary a reasoned opinion as the next step in the infringement procedure.

True‼️ pic.twitter.com/CssjMQKsnX

— Balázs Orbán (@BalazsOrban_HU) February 7, 2024

As the EC writes in the statement, the law establishes a Sovereignty Protection Office, responsible for detecting and investigating certain activities carried out in the interests of another state, as well as foreign bodies or organizations and natural persons, if they could infringe or threaten Hungary’s sovereignty. It investigates organizations that use foreign funding to carry out activities that could influence the outcome of elections or the will of voters. The law also includes provisions and amendments to existing Hungarian legislation that prohibit candidates, political parties, and associations participating in elections from using foreign funding to influence or attempt to influence the will of voters during elections, and criminalize the use of foreign funding in connection with elections.

Zoltán Kovács, State Secretary for Internal Communication, criticized the letter on his social media site as saying: “Brussels and the masters of the dollar left are attacking the Sovereignty Protection Act precisely because it is designed to prevent foreign influence through Soros’s rolling dollars. It’s established that the main backer of the dollar left in the 2022 campaign was George Soros.”

➡️ Brussels and the masters of the dollar left are attacking the Sovereignty Protection Act precisely because it is designed to prevent foreign influence through Soros’s rolling dollars.

➡️ It’s established that the main backer of the dollar left in the 2022 campaign was… pic.twitter.com/Wet3C5Uqem

— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) February 7, 2024

Judit Varga, Chair of the European Affairs Committee of the Hungarian Parliament, commenting on the case to Politico, said that this move

stands as further proof that the bureaucrats in Brussels are not willing to acknowledge the attempts of foreign NGO networks who want to gain influence in EU Member States.”

“One of the main stakes of the June election is whether it will be possible to elect a European Parliament strong enough to free the Brussels bureaucracy from the grip of NGOs and mainstream media financed by international financiers,” the politician concluded.

Via MTI, Politico; Featured image: Facebook/European Commission