Tag: Hungary

As the European Parliament threatens to sue the European Commission, it’s clear the EU is ripping itself apart over Poland

Paul A. Nuttall – October 22, 2021

The repercussions over Poland’s unwillingness to adhere to European law are increasing by the day, with the EU leaders divided and its institutions at war. However the situation is resolved, it’s proving very damaging to the bloc.

Poland’s refusal to bow to European Union pressure has revealed a fissure at the heart of the bloc. Brussels simply does not know how to proceed in its battle with Poland over the supremacy of EU law. Some want the Poles punished now, others want more negotiations, while Hungary is steadfastly standing by its ally.

European leaders met on Thursday in Brussels to discuss the situation. The European Council summit was, however, a torrid affair with leaders unable to agree over how to handle the tense situation. The issue was deemed so delicate that European Council President Charles Michel attempted to keep it off the agenda, only for France and other Western members to demand its inclusion.

Indeed, it seems that Michel’s instincts were correct, as its inclusion only revealed how divided European leaders are about how to deal with Poland. Some wanted to see the country punished for its insubordination, some supported the Poles’ stance, and others were keen to see a compromise.

In one corner were French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte who want to see Poland penalised for its actions. Indeed, Rutte said “the independence of the Polish judiciary is the key issue we have to discuss. It is very difficult to see how a big new fund of money could be made available to Poland when this is not settled.”

Rutte also attempted to have the leaders temporarily end Poland’s voting rights until the situation was sorted, although he failed to garner enough support for this penalty.

https://www.rt.com

‘No further powers to Brussels’: Hungary’s foreign minister calls for more sovereignty within the EU

RT – September 4, 2021

Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto has called for limiting Brussels’ dominance over nations on the continent. Speaking to Swiss media, he accused the EU of “extortion” and questioned its authority.

“The EU is strong when its member states are sovereign and strong themselves, and that means – no further powers to Brussels,” Szijjarto said in an interview with Swiss daily Blick. Competitiveness among member states must also be increased, the minister said, suggesting European countries should not be restrained by the membership. “We definitely don’t want the United States of Europe,” he said.

Hungary is “always the target of attacks” from Brussels, Szijjarto alleged, claiming such an attitude is the result of his country’s policies oriented toward national interests.

Hungary’s conservative government led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban is frequently criticized by the EU authorities. Its stance on the bloc’s migration policies has been a sticking point. In May, Budapest angered Brussels when it vetoed a proposed revision to a longstanding EU trade and development agreement with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) partnership countries, citing concerns over the draft’s implications for increasing ACP migration to the EU.

The EU leadership has also been particularly condemnatory over Budapest’s contentious law against LGBT propaganda, which resulted in withholding investment plans, containing grants and loans, earlier this year.

“This is extortion,” the minister told Blick, saying that “the contributions are not humanitarian donations that are paid out of generosity, but part of a contract between the EU and Hungary.”

Budapest is now “in conflict with the European Union,” the publication alleged, saying that it led the Eastern European country to seek closeness with Switzerland. While so far the two states mainly cooperate economically, Szijjarto and Swiss Vice President Ignazio Cassis aim to tighten political partnership. “Both countries value sovereignty and pride themselves on their heritage, culture and independence,” the Hungarian official said.

https://www.rt.com

Poland’s Tusk says conflicts with EU could eventually end the bloc

– July 16,2021

WARSAW, July 16 (Reuters) – Poland and Hungary’s conflicts with the European Union could start a process that results in the bloc falling apart, former European Council President Donald Tusk warned on Friday, amid a worsening standoff over democratic standards.

Brussels is at loggerheads with Warsaw and Budapest over issues such as the independence of the judiciary and press freedoms, a conflict which deepened this week as Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled the country should not comply with demands from the EU’s top court, while the European Commission took legal action against both countries over LGBT rights. read more

“If more of these kinds of countries are found who insist on damaging… the European Union it may simply mean the end of this organisation,” Tusk, who has returned to domestic politics as leader of Poland’s main opposition party Civic Platform (PO), told private broadcaster TVN24.

Surveys show an overwhelming majority of Poles support EU membership, and there is no legal way to throw countries out of the bloc.

However Tusk, who helped steer the European Union through a tumultuous period marked by Brexit, said the risk of an eventual exit existed.

“We will not leave the EU tomorrow, and the EU will not fall apart the day after tomorrow. These are processes that can take years,” he said.

https://www.reuters.com

Will there be another EU ‘exit’ – over homosexuality?

Patrick J. Buchanan – July 1, 2021

Respect LGBT rights or get out of the EU, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte instructed Hungary’s Viktor Orban at last week’s gathering of the European Union in Brussels.

According to Reuters, attendees described it as the “most intense personal clash among the bloc’s leaders in years.”

What caused the clash?

Hungary just passed a law that bans schools from using materials seen as pro-homosexuality. According to the AP, the new law “prohibits sharing content on homosexuality or sex reassignment to people under 18 in school sex education programs, films or advertisements.”

Rutte eagerly related details of his confrontation with Orban: “It was really forceful, a deep feeling that this could not be. It was about our values; this is what we stand for.”

“I said, ‘Stop this; you must withdraw the law, and if you don’t like that and really say that the European values are not your values, then you must think about whether to remain in the European Union.'”

Orban calls himself a freedom fighter and defender of traditional Catholic values who believes in democracy but not liberalism: “The Hungarian nation is not a mere pile of individuals.”

https://www.wnd.com