Brussels – Four centrist groups of the European Parliament – the European People’s Party, the Social Democrats, Renew and the European Greens – have presented on Monday 23 October their 2023 report over the current status of the Hungarian justice system. As we might figure it, their opinion on this is anything but positive.

„No guarantee that the Hungarian judiciary will function independently”

According to their analysis of the present situation in Fidesz ruled Hungary, „neither the reforms as they stand nor their implementation guarantee that the Hungarian judiciary will function independently of political influence”, and for this very reason, those MEPs consider that „to release some €13 billion of the nearly €22 billion in cohesion policy funds available between 2021 and 2027” would still be „unjustified”.

They particularly highlight three main issues: „the freedom and fairness of the elections to the Constitutional Court”, the lack of „guarantee that the Kúria [would] operate free from political influence” and the assumed fact that it might be „necessary to repair the damage caused in the past”.

The agreed milestones are not fulfilled

The German green MEP Daniel Freund – a long-standing opponent of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the EU institutions – says it without beating about the bush: There should be „no EU money for autocrats!”. According to his statement on X, „Hungary’s judicial reforms [are] insufficient”, the „milestones” agreed between the Hungarian government and the European Commission are „not fulfilled” and as a result of it, the „Commission must not unfreeze EU funds for the Orbán government”.

Freund also shows a detailed analysis of those milestones: While the functioning of the Kúria has been amended, the obstacles to references for preliminary rulings to the ECJ have been removed, and the review of final judgments by the Constitutional Court has been abolished, the National Judicial Council (NJC) has not been strengthened yet, the election procedure of the president of the Kúria has not been reformed yet, as well as the case allocation scheme.

„No legal basis for dirty deal between EC and Orbán”

And Freund emphasises further: „There is no legal basis for the dirty deal between the EU Commission and the Orbán government. […] It is obvious that Viktor Orbán is trying to extort European funds with his veto on Ukraine support. […] You can’t get away with that! No EU money for autocrats!”

„We shouldn’t be the hostages of Mr Orbán”

Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel struck the same note on Friday 27 October, accusing Hungary of frustrating „the EU’s decision-making over new financial assistance to Ukraine in a bid to unblock its own frozen EU funds”: „We shouldn’t be the hostages of Mr Orbán and I’m convinced we will find a positive solution”.