Minister of Public Administration and Justice Tibor Navracsics has said that European institutions have not voiced legal criticisms of Hungary based on legal principles, but have levelled accusations against the country based on political considerations.

The Minister of Public Administration and Justice said the above in an interview on a Sunday news program on the Hungarian radio station Kossuth Rádió, in relation to the recommendation by the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe to launch a monitoring procedure against Hungary.

Mr. Navracsics said that the process is another example of the practice of ‘delivering a verdict before the trial’. He said that he had met rapporteurs from the committee on two occasions, but the final result of their evaluation did not reflect what had been constructive discussions. He added that their study proved abortive when one of the rapporteurs – the Czech conservative Jana Fischerová – resigned, declaring the report to be biased against Hungary.

Condemnation of Hungary has become part of a political debate in Europe between the left and the right which is growing increasingly intense with the approach of next year’s European Parliament elections, said Mr. Navracsics. He said that the left wants to create the impression that Hungary is an example of a supposed danger to democracy posed by the European right. What flows from this, he said, is that their criticisms are not rooted in questions of legality but in politics: not in analysis of legislation, but in their perception of the Orbán government’s goals. The left has proclaimed itself the sole trustee of democracy, and anyone who disputes this is immediately ‘declared to be beyond the pale, and branded as anti-democratic, authoritarian, xenophobic and racist’, he said.

The minister observed that when analysing these criticisms made for political purposes, however, it becomes clear that some of the critics do not know the situation in Hungary and do not understand the Government’s goals – or simply do not recognise the need for changes on this scale.

Mr. Navracsics also said that the country's risk premium is at a low point, i.e. the market sees Hungarian investments as safe, and bond yields are lower than in recent years. In his view this means that the market acknowledges the results of Hungarian economic policy. He noted, however, that there are some whose interests are not served by this: they do not want crisis management which rejects the usual templates to be successful, and for it to be increasing popular. In his opinion, this can also be detected in the fact that Hungary – one of Europe's most successful states in terms of fiscal policy – is more negatively regarded by the international press than Cyprus, where for days the banks remained closed and people were unable to access their money, and which slid close to bankruptcy almost unnoticed and with only mild warnings.

According to the minister, when assessing economic policy measures Europe should also take into account the fact that in Hungary the average monthly salary is €700, yet the country has still achieved stability; the average salary in Greece – which is ‘in multiple bankruptcy’ – is more than three times this at €2,430, while the average income in Germany is more than €3,500. In response to one question Mr. Navracsics said that, in spite of all the difficulties, it is still worth being a member of the European Union – it is in the national interest.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)