Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki insisted that the rule of law mechanism could now not be used in a discretionary way to sanction countries based on political will and that the EC has been mandated to work accordingly. He believes that this ensures full transparency for the process and respect for EU treaties.
According to the Polish prime minister, the conclusions of this summit have the force of European law, which will be hard to change. The conclusions, according to the head of the Polish Government, ensure that rule of law and the EU budget are kept separate in accordance with EU treaties. He was convinced that this settlement provides for far stronger guarantees that the mechanism would not be used in an arbitrary fashion than existed just two weeks ago. Viktor Orbán, Hungarian PM: I love standing shoulder to shoulder with Poles in a struggle. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that during his 30 years in international politics he had never seen anything like this and could not remember negotiations that had been so difficult. He jokingly pitied Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki for having the responsibility of leading the Visegrad Group during the process.
“I love standing shoulder to shoulder with Poles in a struggle,” said Orbán.
“Together we saved EU unity. This was not just a debate about the rule of law but the very future of the EU. The central question was where authority lies in the EU: the EU institutions or the nation states,” he continued. In conclusion, he said that the decisions taken on Thursday could only be changed on the basis of unanimity, “the strongest possible instrument inside the EU.” gov.pl The leader of a PiS coalition partner, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, called the deal in Brussels a mistake against which his party had repeatedly warned. But Zbigniew Ziobro, current justice minister and the leader of a junior partner in the PiS coalition, believes that the two countries have not managed to secure a satisfactory containment of the rule of law conditionality.
Orbán’s and Morawiecki’s arguments were not accepted by Ziobro, who says that the European Court of Justice has on repeated occasions ruled that conclusions of the European Council do not have the force of law. He believes that the rule of law conditionality mechanism will mean reduced sovereignty for Poland, a breach of EU treaties.
“It will allow the European Commission to interfere in the activities of the president, parliament, government and even local governments in almost every field,” assessed the leader of Solidarity Poland.
Ziobro concluded a social media post on Thursday night by calling the acceptance of the rule of law conditionality mechanism a mistake against which his party had repeatedly warned since July’s European Council and that his party would now have to meet to consider the implications of the decision not to use the veto.
Tag: Orbán Viktor
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Polish and Hungarian PMs claim EU budget victory, but ruling coalition in Poland is in danger
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Liberal embarrassment over billboard war
ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt launched his European campaign by sending a mobile billboard to Hungary that carried an advertisement denouncing Orbán and his position towards the EU. The ad showed Orbán with spread hands and a message, “First he stole our money and now he wants to destroy Europe. Stop Orbán! Values are first”. This liberal billboard toured Hungary and had its final stop in front of Orbán’s house in Felcsút village.
Orbán reacted promptly in a similar way and sent his billboard message to tour around Hungary and then to Brussels. Orbán’s ad mocked Verhofstadt’s views with a message, “Hundreds have died in terrorist attacks since 2015 … but Guy Verhofstadt says we don’t have a migration crisis”. However, the van was stopped by local police in Belgium and they ordered the driver to remove the billboard. This move caused nothing but embarrassment for European liberals, while it gave Orbán powerful PR ammunition.
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Orbán has legitimacy to govern
Koudelka believes the immigrant wave stopped by Hungary would have caused the masses to march to Germany through Slovakia, Moravia and the Czech Republic. Koudelka thinks that Hungary is a functional democratic state. “It has no political prisoners like Spain. Hungary kept the European measures connected with border protection in opposition to Germany. Despite this the European Parliament is silent about these two issues. Also, Hungary has one of the best ethnical minority regulations,” he pointed out.
The Czech professor thinks that Orbán is a strong policitian mixing power with authority, similar to Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle.”For democracy it is important to govern for a certain time period. The politicans have to win elections to see if the voters still trust them. Orbán is winning in democratic elections repeatedly. He has right to govern,” Koudelka highlighted.
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Babiš: ANO MEPs who voted against Hungary are traitors
PM Babiš has distanced himself from ANO MEPs who voted in favor of the sanctions against Hungary.
He believes that it’s in 2019 where we can do politics instead of alliances. Sadly, ANO MEPs voted in that way and he said he expected nothing else from the two traitors, Telička and Ježek.
“Finally, under my lead, the Czech Republic fights for its own interests and the Office of the government isn’t full of people chanting for other countries. Unlike my predecessors, I do active politics. Mainly in contrast to the former PM who doesn’t even speak English,” said Babiš, adding that he kept his promise. “There won’t be any quotas and enforced relocations,” he said.
Babiš thinks that Orbán was the only one who played by the Dublin rules and took concrete and radical actions against illegal migration. Both in Hungary and Poland live sane people, who vote freely and elected a legitimate government, he added.