Responding to Prime Minister Viktor Orban's speech on the Hungarian EU presidency's programme, Magyar said Orban "had every opportunity over the last 14 years to make Hungary a land of fulfilled promises".

"Our ancestors fought for centuries for our country's independence and sovereignty and to make Hungary a part of Europe," Magyar said. "An overwhelming majority of Hungarians voted to join NATO and the EU, and if they had to vote today, they'd say the same thing."

Magyar said he was in agreement with Orban on the need to protect the EU's external borders and take firm action against illegal migration. He criticised Hungary's government for "releasing 2,000 people smugglers from Hungarian prisons". He accused "government-affiliated oligarchs" of "doing business with residency bonds" and the government of planning to build a "migrant camp" near the border with Austria.

"Why have you spent 1,309 billion forints (EUR 3.3bn) on propaganda in five years when the Hungarian state isn't functioning and public services are falling apart?" Magyar said.

Klara Dobrev, an MEP of the leftist opposition Democratic Coalition, said Europe "doesn't care" about the programme of the Hungarian EU presidency because it considered it "unserious and filled with platitudes". She insisted that the Hungarian prime minister was "growing more and more detached from reality, fighting enemies that are the figments of his own imagination and alienating Hungary's true friends and allies".

Dobrev said Orban was setting up obstacles to EU policies with the intention of helping Russia and its oligarchs and aiding extortionate Russian gas and energy imports to the benefit of Russian President Putin. She called on Orban to "reveal what the Russians are blackmailing you with".

Tamas Deutsch, an MEP of ruling Fidesz, said Magyar had "mental problems", arguing that he had admitted to secretly recording a conversation with his wife for the purpose of blackmailing her later, and that he had "psychologically abused" her.

"Magyar's actions are a textbook example of domestic abuse," Deutsch said. "But he's also in legal trouble because he has committed a crime," Deutsch added, noting the allegation that the Tisza leader accosted an individual at a club and stole his mobile phone before throwing it in the Danube.
 

Deutsch said Magyar was "hiding behind his immunity to escape accountability", calling on MEPs "not to be his accomplices".
 

Csaba Domotor, another Fidesz MEP, said the EP was "mounting a witch hunt" against Hungary while the EU's competitiveness was weakening and the Schengen system "crumbling".

Zsuzsanna Borvendeg of the Our Homeland Movement accused the EU of "punishing" Hungary, withholding funds the country is entitled to and refusing to contribute to border protection costs. She said the EU also wanted to boycott the programme of the Hungarian EU presidency despite the fact that it had put important issues on the agenda.

Magyar says he would ask EP to lift his immunity if Hungary joined EPPO

Peter Magyar, the leader and an MEP of the opposition Tisza Party, on Wednesday said he would be "more than happy" to ask the European Parliament to lift his immunity if the Hungarian government joined the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO).

At a press conference with European People's Party leader Manfred Weber in Strasbourg, Magyar said he believed he had made Prime Minister Viktor Orban "a generous offer" when proposing the EP lift his immunity if Orban instructed his MPs to approve the law on Hungary joining the EPPO.
 

Asked about the ongoing criminal investigation against Magyar, Weber said he had been contacted by "Viktor Orban's team" in connection with the case, adding that "the rule of law means exactly that these kinds of things are not politicised or discussed by political leaders."

"It's the job of the JURI committee to make an assessment ... So those who want to politicise these things obviously have other interests in mind," Weber said.

The EPP leader said Orban's address to the European Parliament's plenary session was "a great moment to discuss about Europe and the Hungarian internal situation". He said Hungary was "a strong country inside the European Union" and Hungarians were "true Europeans" who could count on European solidarity.
 

He said Hungary deserved to have a strong voice at the European level and to have a real impact on the representation of Hungarian interests in the bloc.

"Therefore Peter Magyar and the Tisza Party are now embedded in the EPP family," Weber said. "So the strength of Hungary, the voice of Hungary, is present with Peter Magyar, with the friends from the Tisza Party, who are doing a great job to deliver on the Hungarian interests. And if I compare this with Viktor Orban, then I have to say that nobody wants to show up in Budapest, nobody wants to go there."

He said that whereas in 2011 there were 44 high-level meetings in Budapest, "today no one wants to go to Budapest, so that shows that the Hungarian government today is not delivering on bringing a strong Hungarian voice to the European negotiating table."

Source: 
MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881.

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