The government is ready for a debate with the European Union on the constitutional amendment, the government spokesman told public radio. András Giró-Szász neither confirmed nor denied press reports that the Prime Minister had told participants of last week’s EU summit that he would accept the assessments and observations of the European Commission but not of any member states.

“It is clear that the Hungarian government is ready to be involved in all discussions on concrete provisions and laws it has adopted or even the constitution itself.”

Foreign Minister János Martonyi welcomed the Venice Commission’s plan to assess the fourth amendment of Hungary’s constitution. Instead of political accusations and generalisations, the question of whether the amendments indeed raised any difficulties from the point of principles or its legal aspects should be examined, he said.

“It is in our interest that such an objective assessment should be carried out instead of all types of political accusations. The same applies to the European Commission, where the compatibility of the constitutional amendment with EU laws will be examined.” Martonyi said at an EU promotional event in Szeged University, southern Hungary.

(Prime Minister's Office)