Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-01-19-Speech-3-097-000"
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"en.20110119.5.3-097-000"2
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"Mr President, first of all, I would like to thank the Members of Parliament who honoured us with their speeches in today’s exciting and valuable debate. This debate was far too valuable for us to address the arguments put forward in a brief, one-minute reply. I will adhere to the time limit, but I cannot help but respond to some questions.
As regards the matter of Tunisia, I would like to point out that we are in continuous consultations with the foreign representation, and we support all democratic efforts and movements outside the borders of Europe as well and, together with the foreign representative, we will demonstrate this with sufficient emphasis. However, we must not contrast this issue with the global trends in the persecution of Christians. Both problems need to be addressed.
Lastly, ladies and gentlemen, there have been a number of comments expressing concern about the turbulent beginnings of the Hungarian Presidency, and that this could be detrimental to our EU Presidency. Let me tell you that this will all depend on you. We, for our part, are ready, as am I personally, to follow and nurture both threads of this twofold debate during the Hungarian Presidency. So if you feel that during the Hungarian Presidency, you wish to debate both Hungary and EU policies, I would like to state that we are ready for that, and will not consider this situation uncomfortable in the least. Not that we are happy about it, of course. We are not happy that critical opinions directed at Hungary are being jumbled up with matters of European policy, but we do not regard this situation as unnatural. Europe, too, is governed by democracy, and we are having democratic debates.
I never expected the Hungarian Presidency to be a simple victory procession, like a beauty pageant where the models parade themselves and everyone simply applauds. I was never under that assumption! I am well aware that we will be having serious political debates. I am ready for this, whatever the subject may be, and let me assure you that Hungary and the Hungarian Presidency possess enough strength to see the debate on both Hungary and European matters through with the necessary seriousness and strength, and that no attacks concerning internal politics or Hungarian affairs will dissuade us from following through with our EU programmes and priorities and making this a successful Presidency. My goal is to turn this half-year, which promises to be the most difficult one for the European Union as yet, into one of the most successful ones. Thank you for honouring me with your attention.
First, I will don the hat of Hungarian Prime Minister. Allow me to express my surprise that so many serious and respectable people, like those who have added their comments, are in factual error. It would be undeserved and embarrassing, not just for you but for me as well, if I gave a complete list of all the factual errors people, starting with Mr Schulz, have made here regarding the Hungarian media law and Hungarian democracy. Just to make the extent of your factual errors clear, let me give you one example: the Hungarian media law cannot sanction unbalanced reporting and cannot impose any financial penalties for it. So what are you protesting against? And the list could go on and on and on. I would therefore like to make it clear that I am sorry to see you have been so badly misled and deceived. I can now see clearly that in this debate, I cannot even hope to be treated fairly, and instead have to trust that the European Parliament will be able to form an unbiased, objective opinion, which, as a matter of fact, I personally will gladly accept, and will proceed according to the stated procedure.
Nevertheless, I wish to remind you that I believe that Mr Schulz’s idea that the Hungarian Presidency will be gauged not on the basis of the programme presented, but the performance delivered, is a valuable one. I can only recommend you to follow the same principle in respect of the Hungarian media law, which has been in force for weeks now. I will gladly send you German language excerpts from Hungarian newspapers and you will see that the fervent speeches of Mr Cohn-Bendit are but innocent baby sounds compared to what the Hungarian press is publishing. So much for factual accuracy.
On the other hand, I would like to remind the critics of the media law that we are living in the 21st century. How can you possibly believe that anyone in Hungary, or in any other European country, would be capable of suppressing the freedom of opinion in the age of the Internet? During the Hungarian electoral campaign, we largely won the elections through an uncontrolled Internet and Facebook. How can you believe that, in the 21st century, one could restrict the free flow of opinions? I am shocked to see how much you are living in the past.
Similarly, I would only like to note as a matter of interest that the media law you are objecting to repealed the press act adopted in 1986, during the communist regime, which, until the adoption of the new media law, allowed newspapers to be terminated simply by deleting them from the register. Nobody ever complained about this in the past twenty years, even though it was most anti-democratic. I therefore suggest that we continue this media law debate in the spirit of reason and rational arguments.
At the same time, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to inform you that, contrary to some of the opinions that were expressed here, Hungary is in the process of rebuilding the rule of law. I would like to point out that, although it was not the subject of your debates in the past years, the Hungarian secret services had been used for political purposes over those past years, and this is now the subject of court proceedings. In Hungary, the police had been ordered to use force against peaceful masses, and this is now the subject of criminal proceedings. In Hungary, information of public interest was falsified, and this is what resulted in the current state of our economy. Today, the rule of law is being reinforced in Hungary, after a policy of dismantling the rule of law, which, for some reason, never drew any criticism from you. Listening to the debate about the media law, I unfortunately had to conclude that it is not really the media law you are having a problem with, but with the fact that, in an act of solidarity unprecedented in Europe, the Hungarian people voted a two-thirds majority to a political force in Hungary. This is, without doubt, a very exciting and interesting question and I am convinced that this can be used for the benefit of Europe.
Since Mr Lambsdorff also made a personal observation, allow me to respond to that as well. Mr Lambsdorff, I address you as a European addresses a European, as a Hungarian addresses a German. Your media law is not one iota more democratic than its Hungarian counterpart, and if you dispute this claim, please do so in an objective debate. And I will not accept, either from the Germans or from anyone else, that just because we have been living under a dictatorship for forty years, anyone could call into question the Hungarian people’s commitment to democracy.
Of course the media law can and should be criticised, and I accept this as natural, but a nation should not be insulted. And I would like to make it clear that calling into question the commitment of the Hungarian people and the Hungarian Government to democracy is an insult to the Hungarian people …
. Please allow me to refer to the statement accusing Hungary of taking steps towards becoming a dictatorship. I was here and heard it with my own ears. What are you protesting against? I was here and heard it with my own ears! You threatened me, claiming that Hungary was moving towards becoming a dictatorship. What is this if not an insult to the Hungarian people? And, I must make this clear, I will always stand up to protect my home country, Hungary. This is not a matter of media laws!
As regards European issues, if you will allow me, I will now put on my other hat as well. I consider the issue of the bond market, as referred to by Mr Verhofstadt, to be an important one, and I would like to state that the Hungarian Presidency believes that the formation of a bond market is necessary and inevitable in the long term. We therefore support the European policies that guide Hungary and EU Member States within the euro area, and the whole European Union, in this direction. I would like to point out one thing, namely, that we should convince our own governments, the national governments, that they must not use the creation of a euro bond market as an excuse for saving on structural reforms. We must therefore first undertake the necessary structural reforms, and after that I believe the introduction of the bond market will be possible."@en1
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"(interruption, applause)"1
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