Brussels (European Commission), has taken Hungary to court over a highly controversial law Budapest says is necessary to protect “national sovereignty,” but NGOs denounced it, tagging it “a dangerous tool” to stem any opposing voices, Euronews reported.
The lawsuit which was announced Thursday according to the news source, represents the next step in the legal action the Commission launched last February, and coming in reaction to what it called, “unsatisfactory” answers provided by Budapest.
The law suit now from Brussels to Luxembourg where the EU’s top court is based, provides that the executive does not ask the judges to impose any interim measures, such as the temporary suspension of the law that some civil organizations were said to have requested for, as ruling is also said to come but in the coming years.
“After carefully assessing the reply of the Hungarian authorities, the Commission maintains most of the grievances identified have not been addressed,” the Commission was quoted to have said Thursday.
According to the report which made mention of the determining Act, approved in December as “contentious”, with credit to the Viktor-Orbán’s ruling party, had established the Sovereignty Protection Office (SPO) to investigate people and organizations suspected of undermining the country’s “national sovereignty” and “constitutional identity.”
Source reported that the SPO could collect information on individuals or groups with funding from abroad – a practice which in the contemplation of the respondents, could influence democratic debates and electoral processes – “in the interest of another state” or “foreign organ.” Hungary’s secret services are compelled to assist the office, which is entitled to access classified documents, the report added.
Adding further that, “once its investigation is concluded, the SPO publishes its conclusions. The law does not foresee any remedial measures to contest the findings.”
Orbán who was reported to have argued that his detractors were Western-paid agents was also reported to have said that the act was necessary to shield Hungary from undue political interference.
But the act’s broad mandate, vague definitions and lack of judicial oversight have sparked serious concerns among civil society and independent journalists, who fear they will be unfairly ridiculed for refusing to follow Orbán’s political dogma and left powerless to challenge the SPO’s public conclusions, the report disclosed.
Transparency International Hungary and Átlátszó, an investigative non-profit supported by international donations, have already been targeted by the office, Euronews further stated.
It said the Commission echoed these considerations when it launched the legal action in February, saying the law violated a wide range of fundamental values and legal guarantees, such as the principle of democracy, the right to private life, the protection of personal data, freedom of expression, information and association, and the presumption of innocence, among others.
Adding that the United States equally censured law described as “draconian”, saying that, “the Hungarian government’s attempt to harass, intimidate, and punish independent organizations runs counter to the principles of democratic governance rooted in the rule of law.”
Further adding that the European Parliament, the Venice Commission, Amnesty International and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, with dozens of other civil society organizations and independent media outlets lending their voices against the legal infusion.
Orbán is scheduled to address the European Parliament in a couple of days as part of Hungary’s six-month presidency of the EU Council, which is under a boycott in response to the prime minister’s meeting with Vladimir Putin in July, Euronews stated.
Source: Euronews