By Remix News
Hungary’s Justice Minister says her country will use all legal means to intervene on Poland’s side in the dispute with the EU
The Hungarian government will release a resolution in support of Poland, which has been attacked by the European Commission in an “unprecedented manner,” Justice Minister Judit Varga said on Wednesday.
“With its decision yesterday, the European Commission launched a brutal attack on Poland and interfered in an unprecedented way in the judiciary and legislative process of a sovereign member state. The procedure is not only outrageous, but also completely unacceptable,” Varga wrote on her Facebook page.
Varga refers to the European Commission’s decision to impose financial sanctions on Poland to ensure compliance with a July ruling by the European Court of Justice ordering the end of the disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court in Poland.
Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro accused the EU of “hybrid legal warfare” and pointed out that Spain, which has the same legal system as Poland, has no consequences or fines to fear from the European Union.
“The problem is that the mechanism we use in Poland is a copy of the mechanism that has been used in Spain for years. It is a model that has not been questioned by either the European Commission or the European Court of Justice, although the judges who are members are elected by a simple majority in Parliament,” Ziobro said. “There is no explanation for this other than hypocrisy and political motivation and not the law.”
Both Poland and Hungary face a renewed threat from the EU, which seems to be increasingly moving towards a model in which both countries are financially punished for implementing conservative policies on migration and LGBT issues. At the same time, the EU is trying to strengthen its control over the Polish judicial system and the media landscape in Hungary.
Hungary sees the Polish fine as a threat to the democratic process and an attempt by Brussels to control the institutions of the nation states to an extent that seriously threatens national sovereignty.
‘Warsaw has informed the Commission in good faith that it intends to repeal the contested provision on the functioning of the Disciplinary Board of the Polish Supreme Court in accordance with the judgment of the European Court of Justice of the summer, but has already initiated the imposition of a penalty payment, contrary to the Polish commitment’.
Varga wrote that “with this scandalous and arrogant move, the Commission has crossed a line that we previously thought unthinkable.”
“We are fully on the side of Poland and show solidarity with our Polish friends, so we will examine the possibilities of a Hungarian representation of Warsaw in a European court case,” she wrote. “In no Member State should the national judiciary fall victim to the empire in Brussels! At today’s meeting, the government decided to adopt a resolution for Poland and to condemn the indecent attacks in Brussels!”