Referring to the issue of whether abstentions were counted or disregarded under European parliamentary rules in the vote to open the Article 7 procedure against Hungary, the head of the Prime Minister\u2019s Office said on Thursday that the government\u2019s assessment was that the Sargentini report did not receive the required two-thirds majority.<\/p>\n
Under the EU\u2019s Lisbon Treaty, a vote by two-thirds of MEPs would have been required for the report\u2019s approval, and abstentions should have also been taken into account in the vote tally, Gergely Guly\u00e1s told a press conference. With the abstentions counted, the report would have failed to secure a two-thirds majority, he said.<\/p>\n
Guly\u00e1s said he did not believe that the EP\u2019s house rules contained any provisions saying that abstentions should not be counted in a vote.<\/p>\n
The procedure cannot move forward until Hungary settles the legal dispute over the matter, Guly\u00e1s added. The cabinet will meet to discuss EU-related matters on Monday and it will decide on steps to take in connection with the report on the rule of law in Hungary drafted by Green MEP Judith Sargentini.<\/p>\n
The minister underlined the government\u2019s view that the report was not really about the rule of law. Instead, the issue of migration was the factor that determined its adoption, he said.<\/p>\n
He said the government had refuted every single critical remark in the report.<\/p>\n
The government considers it \u201cunacceptable\u201d that the report includes issues which Hungary had already settled with the European Commission, he said. If these cases can later reappear as \u201ccharges\u201d in another EU document, then the commission\u2019s role of \u201cguardian of the Treaties\u201d loses its meaning, Guly\u00e1s argued.<\/p>\n
He said \u201cpro-migration\u201d politicians were currently the majority in the EP, and this was why next year\u2019s European parliamentary elections \u2014 where voters will get to have their say on migration \u2014 would be crucial.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope that the forces opposed to migration will make up the majority in the European Parliament formed n 2019, or that at least they can make up ground on the pro-migration forces,\u201d Guly\u00e1s said.<\/p>\n
Asked about the legal steps the government planned to take over the report, Guly\u00e1s said the \u201cmost likely\u201d step would be to request the European court to declare the vote invalid.<\/p>\n
Asked to comment on a plan by Hungary\u2019s leftist parties to organise a demonstration over the approval of the Sargentini report for Sunday, Guly\u00e1s said everyone in Hungary has the right to take part in demonstrations, \u201cunlike when these parties were in power\u201d.<\/p>\n
Asked about whether Fidesz would still support Manfred Weber in his quest to become president of the European Commission, Guly\u00e1s said no formal decision had yet been made to support him. \u201cBut clearly we can\u2019t act as if Manfred Weber, in serving his own personal ambitions, had not voted against his own party for a report he knew to be a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said it was doubtful the Sargentini report would have any kind of impact outside of Europe. Regarding a closed meeting of the European People\u2019s Party group, he said even Fidesz\u2019s staunchest critics did not deny that the report was weak and \u201cteeming with lies\u201d.<\/p>\n
Asked about German Chancellor Angela Merkel\u2019s comment that protection of the EU\u2019s external borders should be strengthened in order to combat illegal migration, and furthermore, some national competences should be transferred to the EU\u2019s Frontex, Guly\u00e1s said he disagreed, adding that the Hungarian government insisted the Schengen rules should be upheld.<\/p>\n
He said that if a member of the Schengen zone is incapable of protecting the external border, then either it should turn to other Schengen countries with a request for help or, if it fails to do so, their membership of the convention should be suspended.<\/p>\n
On the subject of a recent report compiled by the United Nations denouncing reprisals against human rights activists in 38 countries, including Hungary, Guly\u00e1s said the report was the UN\u2019s way of \u201cexacting revenge on Hungary\u201d.<\/p>\n
There are currently 70 NGOs in Hungary, he said, adding that there were no practices or laws in place hindering their operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Referring to the issue of whether abstentions were counted or disregarded under European parliamentary rules in the vote to open the Article 7 procedure against Hungary, the head of the Prime Minister\u2019s Office said on Thursday that the government\u2019s assessment was that the Sargentini report did not receive the required two-thirds majority.<\/p>\n
Under the EU\u2019s Lisbon Treaty, a vote by two-thirds of MEPs would have been required for the report\u2019s approval, and abstentions should have also been taken into account in the vote tally, Gergely Guly\u00e1s told a press conference. With the abstentions counted, the report would have failed to secure a two-thirds majority, he said.<\/p>\n
Guly\u00e1s said he did not believe that the EP\u2019s house rules contained any provisions saying that abstentions should not be counted in a vote.<\/p>\n
The procedure cannot move forward until Hungary settles the legal dispute over the matter, Guly\u00e1s added. The cabinet will meet to discuss EU-related matters on Monday and it will decide on steps to take in connection with the report on the rule of law in Hungary drafted by Green MEP Judith Sargentini.<\/p>\n
The minister underlined the government\u2019s view that the report was not really about the rule of law. Instead, the issue of migration was the factor that determined its adoption, he said.<\/p>\n
He said the government had refuted every single critical remark in the report.<\/p>\n
The government considers it \u201cunacceptable\u201d that the report includes issues which Hungary had already settled with the European Commission, he said. If these cases can later reappear as \u201ccharges\u201d in another EU document, then the commission\u2019s role of \u201cguardian of the Treaties\u201d loses its meaning, Guly\u00e1s argued.<\/p>\n
He said \u201cpro-migration\u201d politicians were currently the majority in the EP, and this was why next year\u2019s European parliamentary elections \u2014 where voters will get to have their say on migration \u2014 would be crucial.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope that the forces opposed to migration will make up the majority in the European Parliament formed n 2019, or that at least they can make up ground on the pro-migration forces,\u201d Guly\u00e1s said.<\/p>\n
Asked about the legal steps the government planned to take over the report, Guly\u00e1s said the \u201cmost likely\u201d step would be to request the European court to declare the vote invalid.<\/p>\n
Asked to comment on a plan by Hungary\u2019s leftist parties to organise a demonstration over the approval of the Sargentini report for Sunday, Guly\u00e1s said everyone in Hungary has the right to take part in demonstrations, \u201cunlike when these parties were in power\u201d.<\/p>\n
Asked about whether Fidesz would still support Manfred Weber in his quest to become president of the European Commission, Guly\u00e1s said no formal decision had yet been made to support him. \u201cBut clearly we can\u2019t act as if Manfred Weber, in serving his own personal ambitions, had not voted against his own party for a report he knew to be a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said it was doubtful the Sargentini report would have any kind of impact outside of Europe. Regarding a closed meeting of the European People\u2019s Party group, he said even Fidesz\u2019s staunchest critics did not deny that the report was weak and \u201cteeming with lies\u201d.<\/p>\n
Asked about German Chancellor Angela Merkel\u2019s comment that protection of the EU\u2019s external borders should be strengthened in order to combat illegal migration, and furthermore, some national competences should be transferred to the EU\u2019s Frontex, Guly\u00e1s said he disagreed, adding that the Hungarian government insisted the Schengen rules should be upheld.<\/p>\n
He said that if a member of the Schengen zone is incapable of protecting the external border, then either it should turn to other Schengen countries with a request for help or, if it fails to do so, their membership of the convention should be suspended.<\/p>\n
On the subject of a recent report compiled by the United Nations denouncing reprisals against human rights activists in 38 countries, including Hungary, Guly\u00e1s said the report was the UN\u2019s way of \u201cexacting revenge on Hungary\u201d.<\/p>\n
There are currently 70 NGOs in Hungary, he said, adding that there were no practices or laws in place hindering their operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1040242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[166],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1040241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n