Hungary will remove from its Fundamental Law the state's option to levy a tax to compensate for any payment obligations incurred from rulings of the constitutional court, the European Court or other international courts against it, Foreign Minister János Martonyi said on Friday. The Minsiter stated that Hungary will also retract the provision allowing cases to be transferred to another court.

Minister Martonyi told a press conference in Budapest that the European Commission had complained about mentioning the European Court separately from international courts, therefore this provision will be removed. Instead, the law on economic stability will contain a new clause on allowing the Government to levy a tax if it incurs any "unexpected financial obligation" not planned in the budget, adding that this is a "satisfactory" solution.

The Minister stated that European Parliamentary elections will not be exempted from the restrictions introduced on election campaigns in Hungary and therefore regulations on political campaigns for both the Hungarian and the EP elections will be the same. He pointed out that the European Commission itself stated earlier that thIS issue does not fall within the EU's competence and decisions can be made at a national level.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)