Pure Farce 2015. 06. 29. After Thursday’s debate in the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), an obvious conclusion can be drawn: the left-wing parliamentary groups don’t even attempt to maintain the appearance of objectivity and equal standards in evaluating alleged threats to the rule of law. [Blog post]
The Hungarian Government Opposes the Commission’s Proposed Immigration Quota System 2015. 06. 23. Whereas the government clearly cannot agree to economic immigration (as distinct from political asylum), the political Left, applying as a starting point a universalism that has never been thought through, continues to criticize Hungary, noted Fidesz MEP György Schöpflin during our recent interview.
This Victor Enjoys the EU’s Special Treatment 2015. 06. 23. Let us hope the EU will not continue to use double standards and will see that corruption, when based on serious allegations, poses a real threat to European values and stability. [Blog post]
EPP Bureau Meeting in Hungary: Debates Strengthen Our Partnership 2015. 06. 16. At our invitation, the European People’s Party Group chose Budapest as the site for last week’s bureau meeting. When Hungary has been the subject of debate recently in the European Parliament, the positive outcome of the visit came at an important time. The session focused on pressing European matters, particularly economic growth, unemployment and immigration, and its outcomes were encouraging, especially on the issues of tax fairness and data protection. [Blog post by Ildikó Gáll-Pelcz]
The EU Must Assist Churches in Humanitarian Crisis Areas 2015. 05. 28. The EPP Group's Working Group for Interreligious Dialogue hosted Mgr. Oliver Doeme, Catholic bishop of Maiduguri in Nigeria for meeting to discuss the destruction caused by Boko Haram. Church related organizations are an obvious way to provide support for reconstruction and providing basic services but current EU regulations do not allow this.
PM Orbán to the EP: “Hungarians Talk Straight About Tough Things” 2015. 05. 22. Responding to yet another request by the left and liberal political groups in the European Parliament, this week’s plenary session featured a debate on the “Situation in Hungary.”
Public Consultation on the Future of the Internet in Hungary 2015. 05. 11. InternetKon, a national consultation with Hungarian citizens on Internet regulations and digital development, was launched in early February under the leadership of Fidesz MEP Tamás Deutsch. “Let’s get at it together! Let’s discuss what the future of the Internet in Hungary should look like,” he said as the dialogue got underway. What is the aim of this government initiative and where does the Hungarian Internet consultation stand now? We caught up with MEP Deutsch to ask him these and other questions about InternetKon.
The Hungarian Government is not planning to re-introduce the death penalty 2015. 05. 07. Last week a number of media outlets falsely reported that Hungary will re-introduce the death penalty. As a response to the accusations Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spoke to Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament on 30 April and informed him that he was not planning to re-introduce the death penalty. Yet, the ALDE Group chooses to ignore this and acts on a purely party political basis. We denounce the spreading of false accusations and call on ALDE to refrain from their irresponsible actions.
We must ban cyanide-based mining in Europe! 2015. 05. 07. Five years have passed since the European Parliament passed a resolution requesting the European Commission to introduce a general ban on the use of cyanide mining technologies in the European Union. In the 2010 resolution, initiated by Members of the European Parliament János Áder and László Tőkés, the EP requested the European Commission to initiate a complete ban before the end of 2011, as this is the only safe way to protect our water resources and ecosystems against cyanide pollution from mining activities. However the European Commission has not yet addressed the resolution's requests.