On 14 November, Hungarian Minister of Justice Judit Varga paid a one-day working visit to the Netherlands. The program included bilateral discussions with Ferdinand Grapperhaus Minister of Justice and Security, Stef Blok Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jan Anthonie de Bruijn President of the Senate, Ladislav Hamran President of Eurojust and Christophe Bernasconi Secretary General of The Hague Conference on Private International Law.
At her meetings with the Minister of Justice and Security and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister Varga made clear that that the cohesion funds deliver mutual advantages. According to the Minister it is important that the dominant net contributor countries appreciate, understand and accept that it is also in their own best interests that cohesion policy remain strong. It is also important that the economic gap should not increase any further, and it is necessary to create a state of balance among the Member States.
During the bilateral discussions with her Dutch colleagues they agreed that the rule of law would require less political attention and more legal analysis. Therefore, the current discourse regarding the rule of law should be held in the European Union’s council of justice ministers. Hungary will not support a rule of law mechanism which would forfeit its intergovernmental nature and would give the European Commission another means that could be used for exerting political pressure, the Justice Minister added.
At the end of the day Minister Varga participated at a panel discussion in de Balie Amsterdam with MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld and assistant professor Ferenc Laczó about the rule of law in Hungary and its position in the EU.
MTI, photos: Oláh Márk/IM
