This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A Hungarian minister was quizzed for the first time by her EU peers on Monday about Viktor Orbán’s restrictions on media, NGOs and courts – restrictions that are widely seen as eroding democracy and the rule of law.

Before meeting 26 EU affairs ministers, the justice minister, Judit Varga, said member states should “stand on the basis of law” when scrutinising Hungary’s record. “I expect them to avoid double standards; I expect them to prove this procedure is not a political witch-hunt.”

Varga wrote on Twitter that Hungary was being “put on pillory for rejecting mass immigration” – a claim that sparked a swift rebuttal from the Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld of the Democrats 66 party.

“You are not put ‘on pillory’ for rejecting mass immigration, but for violating human rights, destroying the rule of law and non-compliance with EU law. Don’t play the martyr,” the MEP wrote.

Last year the European parliament triggered the EU’s most serious disciplinary procedure against Hungary. The charge sheet, which includes erosion of press freedoms and weakening of judicial independence, was laid out in a report by the European parliament, partly based on findings of independent observers, such as the Council of Europe and the UN.

“The threats to the rule of law and fundamental rights in Hungary concern us all,” France’s European affairs minister, Amélie de Montchalin, told her fellow ministers.

Speaking on behalf of France and Germany, De Montchalin described the general picture in the parliament’s report as worrying and said it was Hungary’s responsibility to demonstrate that the issues raised had been closed.

Earlier that day, the Hungarian government’s chief spokesman, Zoltán Kovács, claimed the parliament’s report “regurgitates a laundry list of all the criticisms that Europe’s liberals have thrown at the Orbán government since 2010”, the year Orbán became prime minister for a second term.

“It’s the same left-liberal forces that now want to take revenge on Hungary for standing up against the influx of immigrants and insisting that Europe’s Schengen border be secured,” he added.

Under EU law, the process could lead to Hungary being stripped of its voting rights, but that outcome is almost unthinkable, because of a pact with Poland. Any move to strip Hungary of voting rights could be blocked by its ally, which is subject to the same procedure and counts on Budapest’s protection.

Both countries stand a greater risk of losing EU funds, as more member states balk at funding governments accused of corruption and seen as bending the EU’s basic democratic values.

In a paper presented to ministers on Monday, Germany – the largest contributor to the EU budget – reaffirmed there should be a link between EU funds and rule of law.

EU diplomats say the current rule of law process against Hungary is valuable despite the uncertain result. “This is of course, not a witch-hunt, this is not against anyone. We are just following the procedures written, enshrined in our treaties,” said Tytti Tuppurainen, Finland’s EU affairs minister and chair of the meeting.

She added that the council had not made any assessment on Monday, but would remain “seized of the matter”.

No British minister was planning to attend, in line with Boris Johnson’s policy of skipping most EU meetings unless the UK is deemed to have “a significant national interest in the outcome”.

• This article was amended on 19 September 2019 because we incorrectly described Judit Varga as Hungary’s interior minister. She is the minister for justice.