Thursday

1st Jun 2023

EPP scolds Orban over university and NGO laws

Leaders of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) chided Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban over legislation targeting a university and NGOs ahead of the European Council on Saturday (29 April).

The presidency of the EPP pushed Orban to comply with the European Commission's concerns over the legislation, which, critics say, threatened the Central European University's (CEU) existence in Budapest, but won little sympathy from the Hungarian premier.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

In a statement, Joseph Daul, the party's chairman, said that the "EPP asked Fidesz [Orban's ruling party] and the Hungarian authorities to take all necessary steps to comply with the Commission’s request. Prime minister Orban has reassured the EPP that Hungary will act accordingly."

"We will not accept that any basic freedoms are restricted or rule of law is disregarded," Daul's statement said, adding the party wants the CEU to remain open.

The EPP also said NGOs represented civil society and must be respected, but the party has not called for the withdrawal of a planned law in Hungary that would label NGOs which receive funding from outside Hungary as "foregin funded".

The European Commission earlier said it would start a legal procedure against Hungary if the NGO bill was passed in its current form.

The EPP has also said the "blatant anti-EU rhetoric of the 'Let's stop Brussels' consultation is unacceptable" and that the consultation, a government exercise, was "deeply misleading".

The Commission issued its own version of the consultation earlier this week to dispell the Hungarian government's statements in the questionnaires that it sent to Hungarian households.

"The constant attacks on Europe, which Fidesz has launched for years, have reached a level we cannot tolerate," they added.

"He has to change behaviour. That is what we expect," Manfred Weber, the party's leader in the European Parliament, told reporters after the meeting.

"After this discussion the ball is in his court. If he reacts properly, then he is a team player. If not, there will be consequences," he said.

No guarantee

He did not give details, but the EPP has not threatened Orban with sanctions. The statement also made no mention of the possibility of expelling Fidesz from the family.

The finger-wagging has made little impression on Orban, who, upon leaving the EPP summit for the European Council, said of the meeting: "They told me to behave".

Orban has commited to working with the Commission to find a solution on the CEU issue, but has not guaranteed that he would comply with the executive's specific recommendations for changing the law.

The Commission launched an infringement procedure earlier this week arguing that the higher education law broke EU rules on the basis the freedom to provide services and freedom of establishment. Hungary has one month to answer.

Orban was defiant after the EPP meeting and did not commit to changing the CEU law based on the Commission’s and the EPP’s request.

"The George Soros university, what they call Central European University will proceed on its own legal course, there has been no agreement,” he said on his way out of the EU summit.

"This is a legal matter, the European Commission and Hungary will negotiate on this in the next months,” he added.

“There is a legal debate between the Commission and Hungary and it will have a result. We will implement that outcome,” he insisted.

"Nobody can set conditions for Hungary,” he said on the EPP meeting.

He accused George Soros, who was in Brussels last Thursday and Friday, of trying to undermine Hungary.

The EPP has come under pressure to stand up to Orban, whose populist rhetoric and stated aim of building an illierbal democracy have unnerved many in the group.

Members of the EPP group in the European Parliament have also become frustrated with having to defend Orban's recurring breaches of EU rules and challenges to European values.

Analysis

Orban set to face down EU threats

The European Commission and Parliament are to debate Hungary's slide into illiberal democracy. But the bloc continues to think that Hungarian leader Viktor Orban is not a systemic threat.

Analysis

Hungary's university protests, a path for change?

Hungary has seen mass protests over the last weeks in support of the Budapest-based Central European University, targeted by prime minister Orban's latest legislation. But it is unclear how the new street momentum will be transformed into political power.

EU starts legal action against Hungary

The EU Commission is to launch a legal probe into Hungary's attack on a Soros-funded university, but Hungary's Orban was unrepentant the he faced MEPs.

Column

What a Spanish novelist can teach us about communality

In a world where cultural clashes and sectarianism seems to be on the increase, Spanish novelist Javier Cercas (b.1962) takes the opposite approach. He cherishes both life in the big city and in the countryside.

Opinion

Poland and Hungary's ugly divorce over Ukraine

What started in 2015 as a 'friends-with-benefits' relationship between Viktor Orbán and Jarosław Kaczyński, for Hungary and Poland, is ending in disgust and enmity — which will not be overcome until both leaders leave.

Latest News

  1. IEA: World 'comfortably' on track for renewables target
  2. Europe's TV union wooing Lavrov for splashy interview
  3. ECB: eurozone home prices could see 'disorderly' fall
  4. Adapting to Southern Europe's 'new normal' — from droughts to floods
  5. Want to stop forced migration from West Africa? Start by banning bottom trawling
  6. Germany unsure if Orbán fit to be 'EU president'
  7. EU Parliament chief given report on MEP abuse 30 weeks before sanction
  8. EU clashes over protection of workers exposed to asbestos

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us