In a SPIEGEL interview, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn fiercely criticizes Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Parts of Hungary's new constitution resemble a dictatorship, he says, suggesting the country should be stripped of its EU voting rights for undermining core democratic freedoms.
“SPIEGEL: The European Commission has launched legal proceedings against Hungary for breaching the European Union treaties. Is that enough?
Asselborn: I welcome the steps taken by the European Commission but that is not enough. This isn't just about individual breaches of the law but about the anti-European spirit of the policy of Prime Minister Orbán.
SPIEGEL: What are your main points of criticism?
Asselborn: Orbán has clearly breached Article 2 of the EU treaties that enshrine the democratic values of the constitutional state such as freedom and pluralism. The media have been under the control of the government for a year. Freedom of opinion has been abolished, the separation of powers is being ignored. Independent judges are being replaced by those loyal to the regime. In these points Hungary is no longer different from a dictatorship like that in Belarus.”
Source: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,810743,00.html

Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 April 2012 22:08