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Coronavirus – Official: Hungary epidemic response law consistent with European norms
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Hungary’s law which enhances government powers to tackle the novel coronavirus epidemic and parliament’s legislative activities are fully in line with the country’s constitution and do not violate any European norms, Zsolt Németh, the head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said on Friday.
Németh responded in a letter to Rik Daems, head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), who earlier this week warned against the violation of democratic norms when responding to the coronavirus epidemic at a national level and making those measures permanent. In his statement, Daems criticised the measures implemented by Hungary as “grossly disproportionate”.
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Németh said in his letter that both he and Speaker of Parliament László Kövér had earlier briefed the head of the assembly on Hungary’s response measures and the state of democracy in the country.
He insisted that the epidemic response law and parliament’s activities were “fully in line” with Hungary’s constitution and consistent with European norms, “as pointed out by Vera Jourova, the European Commission’s vice-president in charge of transparency and values”.
Further, the Hungarian government has joined the ranks of EU member states that say response measures to the epidemic should be temporary and must respect the principle of the rule of law, he added.