Parliament divided over Hungary’s democratic record

The Hungarian authorities must remedy any breaches of key EU values swiftly said Members of the European Parliament in a Resolution adopted on the 3 July 2013. If they failed to do so Parliament's leaders should consider asking the Council of the EU to determine, under EU Treaty Article 7.1, whether there is a clear risk of a serious breach, MEPs said. They also wanted a high-level group to monitor compliance with the EU's values in all member states.

In a highly unusual step, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban came to Strasbourg to debate the report that was highly critical of a number of constitutional changes that the Hungarian government had carried out in the past few months.

• Primary Source

EUObserver, 02.07.13: MEPs call for new monitoring body on Hungary http://euobserver.com/justice/120725

ESO: Background Information: Speech: Situation of fundamental rights: standards and practices in Hungary http://www.europeansources.info/record/speech-situation-of-fundamental-rights-standards-and-practices-in-hungary/

ESO: Background Information: Council of Europe turns up the heat on Hungary http://www.europeansources.info/record/council-of-europe-turns-up-the-heat-on-hungary/

Magyar Hírlap / Népszabadság / Népszava, 03.07.13: Another skirmish between Orbán and MEPs (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/3936281-another-skirmish-between-orban-and-meps

European Parliament: Press Release, 03.07.13: Hungary must abide by EU values, say MEPs http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pressroom/content/20130701IPR14768/

BBC News, 03.07.13: Hungary PM Orban defends constitutional changes http://www.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/europe-23149618

EurActiv, 03.07.13: Viktor Orban angry at EU's criticism of Hungary's democratic values http://www.euractiv.com/video/viktor-orban-angry-eus-criticism-529065

Blog: The European Citizen, 04.07.13: European Parliament passes resolution on Hungary's Constitution http://theeuropeancitizen.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/european-parliament-passes-resolution.html

Blog: WSJ Europe, 03.07.13: European Parliament Adopts Report Criticizing State of Hungary’s Democracy http://blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope/2013/07/03/european-parliament-adopts-report-criticizing-state-of-hungarys-democracy/

Népszabadság, 04.07.13: Government shames Hungary (Via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/3939741-government-shames-hungary

Blog: LSE Europpblog, 13.07.13: The EU’s standoff with Hungary shows that there is little agreement on how European institutions can intervene in the policies of national governments http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2013/07/13/hungary-eu-standoff/

Magyar Hírlap, 17.10.13: EU prepared Göncz report (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/4243451-eu-prepared-goencz-report

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