Hungarians living outside the borders are still being discriminated in the countries that attack the Hungarian Constitution
The new Hungarian Constitution was the subject of debate at the Wednesday, June the 8th meeting of the plenary session of the European Parliament. The issue was put on the agenda due to the pressure of the liberal, socialist, green and communist political groups and Commissioner Viviane Reding also attended the debate.
The representative of the European Commission stated in her opening speech that the EU does not hold competences in supervision of member states’ constitutions, although the new Constitution of Hungary, currently holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union came under scrutiny. The EPP – absent one Slovakian MEP – supported the document. The other political groups questioned the reorganization of the institution of the Ombudsman, the lack of institutionalization of same gender marriages, as well as the Hungarian government’s actions towards taking responsibility for Hungarians living outside the borders of Hungary.
FIDESZ’ MEP József Szájer who himself took part in the drafting of the new Hungarian Constitution expressed his regret about the attackers’ superficiality and their use of inaccurate information.
Hungarian MEPs coming from outside Hungary, Edit Bauer (MKP) and (DAHR) also took part in the debate. The MEP from Slovakia declared her regret towards the fact that some members reached a warlike tone in their remarks, a fact that is not be accommodated. The accusations often referred to articles of the Constitution that can also be found in the constitutions of neighboring states. Answering to the remarks of his socialist colleague Victor Boştinaru, the Hungarian MEP from Transylvania made a parallel between the articles of the Hungarian constitution dealing with Hungarians outside the borders of Hungary and the same type of articles in the Romanian Constitution. Referring to the remarks of the Venice Commission, Csaba Sógor regretted that when the same commission raised its voice against the State Language Law in Slovakia, the attackers of the new Hungarian Constitution did not urge the modification of the law and the discriminative act is still in force in Slovakia.
Here follows the MEP’s speech:
„It seems that, at least for today’s debate, the Venice Commission has become somewhat of a super-court. The same commission formulated grave and just critique about the State Language Law in Slovakia and I’ve never heard my Slovakian colleagues to have referred to these or the Commission. Mr. Boştinaru is not here anymore. He cannot answer now, but I would like to say to my colleague, Mr. Szájer that I am a Romanian citizen and I know that Romanians living outside the borders of Romania have the right to vote and to possess Romanian passports. The Slovakian Constitution, just like many other constitutions in Europe, regulate the rights of nationals living in other countries. I see no problem with this. I would rather think about the fact why Hungary had to regulate the issue: because Hungarians living in the countries that attack the new Hungarian Constitution are still being discriminated.”
FIDESZ’ MEP József Szájer who himself took part in the drafting of the new Hungarian Constitution expressed his regret about the attackers’ superficiality and their use of inaccurate information.
Hungarian MEPs coming from outside Hungary, Edit Bauer (MKP) and (DAHR) also took part in the debate. The MEP from Slovakia declared her regret towards the fact that some members reached a warlike tone in their remarks, a fact that is not be accommodated. The accusations often referred to articles of the Constitution that can also be found in the constitutions of neighboring states. Answering to the remarks of his socialist colleague Victor Boştinaru, the Hungarian MEP from Transylvania made a parallel between the articles of the Hungarian constitution dealing with Hungarians outside the borders of Hungary and the same type of articles in the Romanian Constitution. Referring to the remarks of the Venice Commission, Csaba Sógor regretted that when the same commission raised its voice against the State Language Law in Slovakia, the attackers of the new Hungarian Constitution did not urge the modification of the law and the discriminative act is still in force in Slovakia.
Here follows the MEP’s speech:
„It seems that, at least for today’s debate, the Venice Commission has become somewhat of a super-court. The same commission formulated grave and just critique about the State Language Law in Slovakia and I’ve never heard my Slovakian colleagues to have referred to these or the Commission. Mr. Boştinaru is not here anymore. He cannot answer now, but I would like to say to my colleague, Mr. Szájer that I am a Romanian citizen and I know that Romanians living outside the borders of Romania have the right to vote and to possess Romanian passports. The Slovakian Constitution, just like many other constitutions in Europe, regulate the rights of nationals living in other countries. I see no problem with this. I would rather think about the fact why Hungary had to regulate the issue: because Hungarians living in the countries that attack the new Hungarian Constitution are still being discriminated.”
