As the first speaker, Zoltán Kovács stated that, contrary to recent criticisms which have accused it of turning the country upside down, the Government is in fact now returning the system in Hungary to its feet.

According to the Minister of State, for a long time Hungary suffered from the illusion that it was possible in just a few months to shift from communism (or ‘goulash communism’) to a system similar to those in Western democracies, simply by renaming institutions and introducing new rules within the old framework.

'But partial solutions are no solutions, and the last twenty years have been characterised by the failure of such partial solutions,’ said Mr. Kovács.

The Minister of State said that in creating a new constitutional and institutional system, the Government has brought new rules into being and is now trying to activate the new system. He said that some adjustments, clarifications and the amendment of certain laws are necessary, but this is all part of a normal process.

With reference to Hungarian economic policy, Mr. Kovács said that the Hungarian Government’s position is that austerity measures will not solve the present crisis – they have already been tried in Hungary over the last eight to ten years, with no success.

The Minister of State welcomed the perceptible change in the EU’s approach recently, away from austerity measures and towards growth and the job creation.

György Schöpflin said that there is no erosion of individual freedoms in today’s Hungary, and there is no climate of fear. The MEP said that in 2010 Hungary was in an appalling condition, and that whoever had won the elections would have had to push through radical reforms.

In connection with recent condemnations of the Government he said that what is happening to Hungary is beginning to resemble a show-trial, and that there seems to be a ‘presumption of guilt’ regarding Fidesz.

He said that Western reporters were constantly recycling the same stories coming from the same sources."

Source: kormany.hu