Szegedist
03-08-2013, 02:28 PM
European human rights watchdog calls for Viktor Orbán to delay constitutional changes seen as assault on democratic rights.
Hungary's domineering prime minister, Viktor Orbán, is coming under mounting European pressure to shelve changes to the constitution planned for next week which are seen as an assault on democratic rights and liberties and boosting his executive power.
In a statement reflecting deepseated anxiety at the direction Orbán is taking Hungary, Germany and three other EU countries called for Brussels to be given new powers allowing it to freeze EU budget funds to a member state in breach of Europe's "fundamental values".
Europe's human rights watchdog in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe (not an EU body), also called on Orbán to delay the constitutional changes until its experts had had a chance to scrutinise them.
Orbán, whose Fidesz party enjoys a whopping two-thirds majority in parliament in Budapest, brought in a new constitution last year. Monday's scheduled vote represents the fourth change in a year, reintroducing amendments that had already been scrapped because of disputes with the EU and had also been rejected by the country's supreme court.
Critics claim the proposed changes will dilute checks and balances on government power, narrow the authority of the constitutional court, limit or control religious freedoms, narrowly define heterosexual marriage as the foundation of Hungarian society, and curb the authority of independent institutions.
Earlier this week, Orbán appointed a loyalist former minister as head of the central bank, also seen as a move to undermine the bank's independence and ensure it follows the government's line.
"I am concerned about the compatibility of the constitutional amendments with the principle of the rule of law," said Thorbjřrn Jagland, the Norwegian who heads the Council of Europe.
"This gives the impression that the government is willing to use the two-thirds parliamentary majority to overrule the constitutional court, which might endanger the fundamental principle of checks and balances in a democracy."
Budapest dismissed the call for a delay. "It is unacceptable that prior to the adoption of the amendment the Council of Europe should announce a preliminary judgment which is clearly based on misunderstandings. We find this behaviour especially strange," said a statement from Orbán's party.
There were calls in Brussels for the issue to be raised with Orbán at an EU summit next week.
"Using a parliament majority to overrule the country's highest court's decision does not comply with EU values," said Hannes Swoboda, leader of the social democrats in the European parliament. "Victor Orbán has been warned by all sides."
Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the parliament's liberals, said: "Orbán appears to have learned nothing."
A straight-talking populist who relishes his regular collisions with the European commission, Orbán reignited his fire at Brussels on Thursday, calling on the countries of eastern Europe who joined the EU in 2004 to plot their own path.
"The countries of central and eastern Europe should make their own policies without looking to the EU. We do not have to listen to everything the bureaucrats in Brussels say," he said.
In a letter to the European commission obtained by the Guardian, Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, was joined by his counterparts in Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland in demanding new powers to police the rule of law in EU member states.
"There are limits to our institutional arrangements when it comes to ensuring compliance," they complained. "A new, more effective mechanism to safeguard fundamental values in member states is needed … The commission should have a stronger role here, allowed to address deficits in a given country and require the country in question to remedy the situation … As a last resort, the suspension of EU funding should be possible."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/08/hungarian-prime-minister-warned-power
Hungary's domineering prime minister, Viktor Orbán, is coming under mounting European pressure to shelve changes to the constitution planned for next week which are seen as an assault on democratic rights and liberties and boosting his executive power.
In a statement reflecting deepseated anxiety at the direction Orbán is taking Hungary, Germany and three other EU countries called for Brussels to be given new powers allowing it to freeze EU budget funds to a member state in breach of Europe's "fundamental values".
Europe's human rights watchdog in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe (not an EU body), also called on Orbán to delay the constitutional changes until its experts had had a chance to scrutinise them.
Orbán, whose Fidesz party enjoys a whopping two-thirds majority in parliament in Budapest, brought in a new constitution last year. Monday's scheduled vote represents the fourth change in a year, reintroducing amendments that had already been scrapped because of disputes with the EU and had also been rejected by the country's supreme court.
Critics claim the proposed changes will dilute checks and balances on government power, narrow the authority of the constitutional court, limit or control religious freedoms, narrowly define heterosexual marriage as the foundation of Hungarian society, and curb the authority of independent institutions.
Earlier this week, Orbán appointed a loyalist former minister as head of the central bank, also seen as a move to undermine the bank's independence and ensure it follows the government's line.
"I am concerned about the compatibility of the constitutional amendments with the principle of the rule of law," said Thorbjřrn Jagland, the Norwegian who heads the Council of Europe.
"This gives the impression that the government is willing to use the two-thirds parliamentary majority to overrule the constitutional court, which might endanger the fundamental principle of checks and balances in a democracy."
Budapest dismissed the call for a delay. "It is unacceptable that prior to the adoption of the amendment the Council of Europe should announce a preliminary judgment which is clearly based on misunderstandings. We find this behaviour especially strange," said a statement from Orbán's party.
There were calls in Brussels for the issue to be raised with Orbán at an EU summit next week.
"Using a parliament majority to overrule the country's highest court's decision does not comply with EU values," said Hannes Swoboda, leader of the social democrats in the European parliament. "Victor Orbán has been warned by all sides."
Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the parliament's liberals, said: "Orbán appears to have learned nothing."
A straight-talking populist who relishes his regular collisions with the European commission, Orbán reignited his fire at Brussels on Thursday, calling on the countries of eastern Europe who joined the EU in 2004 to plot their own path.
"The countries of central and eastern Europe should make their own policies without looking to the EU. We do not have to listen to everything the bureaucrats in Brussels say," he said.
In a letter to the European commission obtained by the Guardian, Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, was joined by his counterparts in Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland in demanding new powers to police the rule of law in EU member states.
"There are limits to our institutional arrangements when it comes to ensuring compliance," they complained. "A new, more effective mechanism to safeguard fundamental values in member states is needed … The commission should have a stronger role here, allowed to address deficits in a given country and require the country in question to remedy the situation … As a last resort, the suspension of EU funding should be possible."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/08/hungarian-prime-minister-warned-power