The Financial Times' "BeyondBrics" blog published on Tuesday included an article by Minister of State for European Affairs Enikő Győri explaining why pointing the finger at Hungary in the European Parliament was unfounded and biased.

The unfounded accusations against Hungary reached a watershed during debates in the European Parliament on the so-called Tavares report, Enikő Győri wrote. The report accused Hungary of being in breach of EU values through recent changes in its constitutional and legal framework. However, those formulating these allegations – both previously and during the session of the European Parliament last week – failed to cite even one concrete example of supposed wrongdoing to support their case. "The report proposes that Hungary be placed under permanent monitoring and aims to establish institutions which are not foreseen in current EU treaties," she wrote. "The European Parliament intends to be the prosecutor and the judge at the same time, which is inconceivable in a democracy."

Those voting in favour of the report were not were not willing to take into consideration that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) – the oldest and largest European organization established to safeguard the rule of law and promote human rights – decided just a week earlier that there was no need for a monitoring process against Hungary. PACE found that the contested stipulations of the Fundamental Law were in line with traditional European values and acknowledged that such stipulations were also to be found in many other European constitutions.

Enikő Győri argues that putting a member state on the stand – as the adoption of the Tavares report now does – will not only do harm to Hungary, it will also undermine the faith of European citizens in closer integration. “Such bullying destroys faith in the European Union and feeds Euroscepticism – thus in fact strengthening the far right, the rise of which the European left has repeatedly warned about,” she concludes her article.

The full posting can be read at: http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2013/07/08/guest-post-why-the-tavares-report-is-dangerous-for-both-hungary-and-europe/#axzz2YXcr79gB

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)