Hungarian FM rejects German criticism

A statement by the Hungarian Foreign Ministry accuses Germany of meddling in Hungarian domestic affairs and rejects the statement of the German Foreign Ministry that raises concerns about the laws adopted by the Hungarian government.

“Hungarian diplomacy is shocked by the statement of the state minister of the German Foreign Ministry, Werner Hoyer about the adoption of the new Hungarian Constitution.”

A statement signed by state minister Zsolt Németh says that the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs received Hoyer statement with great astonishment.

"The remarks made by Minister of State Werner Hoyer are basically comments on Hungarian domestic politics. For Hungarian Ministry officials this statement is incomprehensible and also unacceptable because during the drafting stages German foreign ministry officials, including state minister Hoyer himself received detailed information about the constitutional process on several occasions," – the statement says.

This Monday, Werner Hoyer’s statement siad that “in past decades, Hungary won an undisputed place in the history books as an ardent champion of freedom, human rights and democracy. We Germans in particular will never forget what our Hungarian friends did for us. Our eyes are therefore all the more attentively fixed on Hungary, as we watch developments there not without some concern. The media laws which entered into force at the beginning of this year demonstrate an understanding of fundamental rights which – despite the alterations undertaken – is not easily reconciled with the values of the European Union.

The fears we registered in connection to the media laws are heightened, not alleviated, by the Constitution adopted today – and by the fact that it was drafted in the first place. Europe stands for “Unity in Diversity”. Diversity here implies a tolerant way of life which does not question the political majority’s right to make decisions, but in which the maturity of any political culture as well as its inward and outward credibility is measured by the way society’s minorities are treated.

We in Europe are united in a community of values to which we are all bound. Freedom, human rights and the rule of law: these are the pillars which – after long years of struggle – hold up the roof over our heads here in Europe.”