Tag: Orban

The Venice Commission, a Council of Europe body specialised in constitutional matters, found yesterday (19 March) "numerous problematic elements" in the laws regulating Hungary's judicial system and even called for amending the country's new constitution. 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán took a conciliatory tone with the Commission in an effort to obtain "precautionary" financing, just a week after he called "extremely stupid" a move by the EU executive to freeze regional funding as a sanction for his country's budget deficit.

The European Parliament has decided to draw up a report on whether EU laws and values are respected in Hungary, after Budapest passed controversial state reforms that are widely seen as undemocratic. MEPs will later decide whether to activate Article 7 of the EU Treaty, which is used to investigate breaches of EU values. 

EU leaders agreed yesterday (30 January) a treaty on tighter fiscal rules to preserve the eurozone from new crises. But the Czech Republic said it would not sign it for now due to ratification difficulties, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy said his country is unlikely to ratify before the 6 May presidential election.

A meeting between European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, aimed at bridging differences over Hungary's controversial state reforms, ended up inconclusively yesterday (24 January). Meanwhile, finance ministers opened the way for sanctions to be imposed on Budapest over its deficit.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán failed to convince many MEPs that Hungary was not adrift from European values, following a heated debate yesterday (18 January). However, he mustered considerable support from the European conservatives and centre-right. EurActiv France contributed to this article from Strasbourg.

MPs from centre-left and liberal parties in Denmark voiced concern yesterday (10 January) about what they described as a “crisis of Europe’s core values” caused by an apparent authoritarian drift in Hungary. They also asked the country’s government to keep the issue higher on the Danish EU presidency agenda.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán requested 'precautionary aid' from the EU and the International Monetary Fund yesterday (21 November), saying Hungary was seeking "a kind of insurance policy" against possible future financing difficulties.

Hungary's Fidesz party pushed a new constitution through parliament yesterday (18 April), bypassing an opposition boycott over complaints the move lacked consensus and will cement Fidesz power beyond the end of its term.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán presented in Brussels yesterday (14 April) his country's accomplishments halfway through its EU presidency. Pre-empting tough questions on Hungarian internal politics, Orbán lashed out at some of Europe's "absurdities".

Feeble disapproval was voiced at a presentation of Hungary's draft new constitution in the European Parliament yesterday (29 March), with the organisers – from Hungary's ruling centre-right parties – benefiting from the absence of socialist MEPs.

The new Hungarian constitution will be ready on 15 March and will be adopted a month later, its main author, centre-right MEP József Szájer – who wrote part of it on his iPad – told EurActiv in an interview. The country's opposition claims the procedure for adopting the new constitution is illegitimate and the controversy could impact upon the Hungarian EU Presidency.

Hungary has made international critics of its media law look "ridiculous" and shown that it will not take orders from abroad, including from the EU, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said yesterday (14 February). Hungary is the current holder of the EU's six-month rotating presidency.

Following the adoption of a controversial citizenship law in Budapest that makes it easier for ethnic Hungarians abroad to obtain Hungarian nationality, Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radičová indicated that her government would seek ways to make sure that the law does not apply in her country. EurActiv Slovakia reports.