Although the reason for the debate is said to be concern about fundamental rights, the real reason behind it is Hungary’s responsible immigration policy.

The real reason why the Left is attacking Hungary is because we oppose mandatory migrant quotas. As a protest against this political attack, representatives of the European People’s Party, including those of Fidesz and the Christian Democrats, stayed away from this act.

Only the group’s designated speaker addressed the debate, objecting to the double standards against Hungary.” The MEPs said Hungary prioritised protecting Hungarian and European citizens along with the right to free movement in the EU when it made a commitment to protecting the Schengen borders.

They added that Hungary’s focus was on keeping to EU rules when it decided to put an end to illegal migration.

The MEPs said Hungary’s EPP group members remained committed to protecting the Schengen rules and the EU’s external borders, and they would continue to speak out against mandatory migrant quotas. EU justice commissioner Vera Jourova said that while the EC will continue to monitor the situation in Hungary, it sees “no systemic threat to democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights”.

She noted that the EC has launched several procedures against Hungary for infringing EU laws, but has found that reasons for launching a rule of law framework procedure have not been met. Socialist MEP István Ujhelyi said that although he will never support sanctions against Hungary, the EU must take the appropriate steps if it sees that a member state ignores the bloc’s founding treaties.

Sanctioning a government, however, is not the same as sanctioning a country, he insisted.

Democratic Coalition MEP Péter Niedermüller said the government is systematically and deliberately weakening the EU with its policies. Dialogue for Hungary MEP Benedek Jávor said if the EU fails to act on the Hungarian government now it will later be too weak to do anything about the situation in Hungary.

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