Government backs commissioner-designate Várhelyi

Olivér Várhelyi is the right man for the job of Hungary’s European commissioner, Gergely Gulyás, the chief of the Prime Minister’s Office, said at a government briefing on Thursday.

Várhelyi is one of the best-known Hungarian officials in the EU and his professional skills are beyond doubt, he said. Further, as a diplomat, he has been pushing to prevent immigration being forced onto member states.

Várhelyi also had a role in ensuring that the decision on a mandatory resettlement quota applied temporarily and that Brussels understood Hungary’s standpoint, even if it did not ultimately accept it.

Gulyás said that former justice minister Lászlo Trócsányi had enjoyed political legitimacy, having topped the ruling Fidesz party’s European Parliament election list backed by 53 percent of voters in the EP election. But Brussels considered his involvement in Hungary’s anti-migration campaign as a “red flag”.

The government confirmed Várhelyi’s nomination at a government meeting on Wednesday, he said, adding that neither the candidate nor the Hungarian government had been informed about a possible portfolio change.

Meanwhile, commenting on reports about Zsolt Borkai, the (Fidesz) mayor of Győr who has appeared in video footage in connection with acts of sexual impropriety in the context of a party aboard a yacht, Gulyás said the matter was private, though at the same time “morally wrong”. He said other issues concerning the business role of the people present at the party would have to be clarified. This would mean establishing their business interests and what had been entrusted to them, and to what extent they had delivered. The private matter, he added, should be treated as a separate matter.

Gulyás admonished the press for “crossing a line that has never happened before in Hungarian politics”. He later said the press was “completely unscrupulous when it comes to non-public figures”.

Referring to possible purchases of land in connection with the reports surrounding Borkai, Gulyás said the government this year planned legislation to tax speculative real estate sales by up to 80-95 percent.

Meanwhile, regarding the local governments receiving direct EU funding, which Gulyás said had been demanded by opposition Democratic Coalition, he noted EU funding was generally handed over to states. He added that there was a danger that direct funding would be linked to migration, and local authorities willing to admit migrants would receive EU money while those that refused would be denied funding.

On the topic of the next EU budget cycle, Gulyás said the timeframe for adoption was less important than the content. In its current form, the government considers the budget an unsuitable basis for negotiation but it hopes improvements can be made, he said. If the budget is smaller due to Brexit, Hungary should only receive a proportionately smaller amount.