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Letter of Tamás Deutsch to Commissioners Věra Jourová and Didier Reynders

2021. 05. 05.

Tamás Deutsch, Head of the Fidesz delegation in the European Parliament, addressed European Commissioners Věra Jourová and Didier Reynders regarding the preparations of the 2021 rule of law report on Hungary.  

“In 2020, the European Commission compiled a so-called rule of law report. They promised to objectively evaluate each country, including Hungary, but instead, a political pamphlet was born, echoing all the slander pronounced by the European and Hungarian Left against Hungary. There was indeed a significant scandal over the application of political bias and double standards”, the head of the delegation emphasized.

“Following this case last year, the European Commission promised that this year, the rule of law reports would be prepared in an independent and impartial way, without bias and prejudice, in an objective and fair manner”, MEP Tamás Deutsch pointed out.

“Let us see, however, who the Commission has entrusted with the work on Hungary: Gábor Magyar, an employee of one of the European Commission’s Directorates-General, has been appointed as the contact person for the delegation preparing this year’s rule of law report for Hungary”, he said.

“The problem with Gábor Magyar is not that he is the son of György Magyar, a well-known left-wing lawyer and politician! The appointment is scandalous because Gábor Magyar is not an independent EU official, but in fact an agitated left-wing political activist”, he noted.

“Gábor Magyar said in an interview: Hungary is ‘a regime that no longer meets the requirements of democratic rule of law that respects human rights’. In line with the well-known slander of the left, he also explained that ‘the level of the protection of fundamental rights has also decreased as a result of efforts to dismantle constitutionality’. The head of the delegation added, citing Magyar, that “centralised political power is essentially doing what it wants”.

“This is the political position of Gábor Magyar. Gábor Magyar is a true left-wing political activist, who has made biased statements that often surpassed the slander of Ferenc Gyurcsány and Mrs Gyurcsány”, Deutsch added. He stressed that this procedure is scandalous.

Fidesz MEPs therefore wrote to the European Commission, expecting an immediate response to the following: 

–         How do you expect someone with such a biased opinion about the Hungarian government to be capable of an impartial assessment of the situation regarding rule of law in Hungary?

–          How can the principle of independence of the Commission, enshrined by the Treaties, be guaranteed when you enlist such a delegate who holds close ties to the left-wing opposition?

“Due to his obvious bias, Gábor Magyar must be recalled immediately by the Commission and the impartial procedure must be publicly guaranteed!” said the head of the Fidesz EP delegation.


The full text of the letter can be read below:

Věra Jourová
Vice-President of the European Commission
Didier Reynders
Member of the European Commission

                                                                                                                           Brussels, 5 May 2021
Honourable Vice-President,
Honourable Commissioner,

Regarding the recent country visit to Hungary concerning the 2021 Rule of Law Report assessment of Member States, I was shocked to learn that the Commission’s delegation included Mr Gábor Magyar, a staunch and outspoken opponent of the Hungarian government.

In 2017, when joining the Commission, Mr Magyar said in an interview that by working as a lawyer in Hungary he felt he was “legitimising a regime that no longer meets the requirements of a country based on the rule of law and respect for human rights”.

Dear Commissioners,

This situation thus raises the following questions, which I respectfully address to you:

How do you expect someone with such a biased and openly critical opinion about the Hungarian government to be capable of an impartial assessment of the situation regarding rule of law in Hungary?

How can the principle of independence of the Commission, enshrined by the Treaties, be guaranteed when you enlist such a delegate, someone who holds close ties to the left-wing opposition in Hungary and who once called the democratically elected Hungarian government a “regime”?

Perhaps more to the point, have you not considered that by nominating someone with such an obvious conflict of interest as Mr Magyar, you may raise suspicion that the Commission is actively interfering in the domestic politics of a Member State?

Do you not think that after the failure of the 2020 Rule of Law Report on Hungary, which was characterised by political bias and double standards and which quite clearly called the Commission’s competence and independence into question, the Commission should have learned a lesson from those mistakes?

I am hopeful that this letter perhaps reminds you of your duties to the Commission and the Union and the principles they seek to uphold. After all, rule of law starts at home.

Sincerely yours,

Tamás Deutsch MEP
Head of the Fidesz delegation in the European Parliament