EU mounts legal challenge over Hungary’s record on democracy

THE European Union has launched a legal action against Hungary in a deliberate swipe at a country that stands accused by many in Brussels of backsliding on its commitments to democracy.

The European Commission yesterday sent a letter to Budapest saying it had launched “infringement proceedings” against Hungary over concerns that a new higher education law is not compatible with EU law.

The law, passed earlier this month, allegedly poses a threat to the Budapestbased Central European University, which is funded by Hungarian-born billionaire financier George Soros.

The Rightist government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban has frequently painted Mr Soros as an enemy of Hungary and accused him of using his fortune to fund organisations intent on undermining national interests.

However, Budapest’s critics say the law is a move to silence any institution linked to Mr Soros, and is part of broader campaign against anything that might oppose Orban’s government.

Addressing the European Parliament during a special debate on Hungary, Frans Timmermans, the vice president of the Commission, said the law “was in clear violation of EU law”.

Referring to the legal action, Mr Timmermans said “I hope we get a response on that” from Hungary within a month. And he added that “protecting the freedom of Hungarians was a European task” and that “we have to fight to do it”.

Mr Orban, who attended the debate in Brussels, rejected the criticism of his law, saying that it presented no threat to the Central European University, and was aimed at closing certain legal “loopholes” that had given Mr Soros’s institution an unfair advantage.

However, Mr Orban did not pass up on the opportunity to attack Mr Soros.

“Nobody questions one thing; that we as Hungarians have to face a financial speculator who has ruined the lives of tens of millions of people,” he said. “This is an international speculator who has become rich by ruining millions.”