Council of Europe to begin monitoring Hungary over rule of law issues

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has voted to place Hungary under a full monitoring procedure due to concerns related to the rule of law. There are currently 10 countries under similar monitoring: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine (i.e. most of the subjects are not EU countries but are members of the Council of Europe).

Among the issues raised in the assembly about Hungary were the overly broad application of two-thirds laws, thereby limiting pluralism; electoral laws which do not ensure equal opportunities; the erosion of the independence of the judiciary and the media; and the state of danger that has been in place since 2020 without interruption.

In practice, the monitoring will mean that Council of Europe experts will visit Hungary regularly, interact with different authorities and assess the level of compliance with Council of Europe commitments.

Fidesz responded by saying that there is a political witch-hunt against Hungary and that the international left is attacking Hungary on the basis of untruths. They say that the reason for this is that "the government is pursuing a successful Christian democratic policy, and is not backing down on the issue of illegal migration and is demanding a review of sanctions against Russia".