Judit Varga hails constructive talks with the European Commission.Continue reading
According to Justice Minister Judit Varga, the European Parliament is waging an ideological witch-hunt against Hungary and is trying to hinder its negotiations with the Commission about EU funds.
“We are engaging in a very constructive, very positive negotiating procedure,” Hungary’s Justice Minister Judit Varga told Spanish newspaper El Correo de España, about the talks with the European Commission regarding the rule of law mechanism and the withheld recovery funds.
“They requested guarantees from Hungary, and we gave them all the guarantees. In the next days and weeks, we will introduce new laws and amendments to comply with the requirements of the European Commission, so there will be no reason for more blockades,” she stressed.
According to Varga, “the European Parliament wants to be part of the problem, not the solution, but Hungary, the Commission, and the member states are part of the solution.” She added that it is “not normal” that the Parliament is attacking Hungary instead of talking about Europe’s pressing problems.
Regarding the withheld money, the Minister recalled that “two years ago, Hungary showed solidarity with the rest of Europe, but all countries were able to use these recovery funds except Hungary and Poland.” She stressed that Hungary needs the money to free itself from Russian energy dependency and to finance its energy infrastructure.
Referring to the EU sanctions against Russia, Varga said that “decisions must be made from the bottom up, not imposed on the Member State.”
”For example, with the oil embargo, the members were not consulted beforehand. Or in the case of gas, in Central Europe it is not a question of ideology or buying gas cheaper, it is about having gas at all,” she continued.
Varga said that the “V4 cooperation has always been very pragmatic.” She recalled that there have been attempts to exaggerate the differences in stances towards Russia, but those are “not ideological, but practical, because we have to secure our gas supply.”
During her trip last week, the Justice Minister also spoke to Portuguese newspaper Diário de Noticias. “Nonsense,” she reacted to the European Parliament’s statement last week that Hungary has become an “electoral autocracy.”
“We are part of the European club, but national interests are our priority,” Varga emphasized.
“By definition, the European Parliament is a political institution and therefore operates with political ideological majorities. Four years ago there was a similar report and now, four years later, here is another. It is their political mission to conduct a witch-hunt against a country that does not accept that its ideology is determined by the European Parliament,” she said.
“We continue to work so that Hungary and the Hungarian people can access the resources they are entitled to,” the Minister said concerning the rule of law procedure.
Featured photo via El Correo de España