‘Today I filed a counterclaim to the Court of Justice of the European Union over the infringement procedure on Hungary’s Child Protection Act. We continue to stand by our conviction and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union that education is a national competence and that parents have the right to decide on the upbringing of their children,’ Justice Minister Varga announced on Facebook.
At the European Parliament last week, Fidesz MEP Tamás Deutsch accused Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony of coming to Brussels, Belgium and Strasbourg, France, to actively lobby against Hungary receiving its frozen COVID recovery and EU cohesion funds.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called on Hungarian authorities to allow the Budapest Pride march—scheduled for Saturday—to proceed, despite new legislation banning it. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán urged von der Leyen not to interfere in Hungary’s domestic affairs.
The European Parliament is set to debate Hungary’s new legislative package, which includes amendments to the law on the right of assembly—labelled by progressives as a ‘Pride ban’—as well as stricter regulations on foreign-funded NGOs and media outlets. However, as democratic as it is, the EP has ‘forgotten’ to invite Hungary to participate in or respond during the debate.
Budapest witnessed rare protests in recent days, as demonstrators rallied against what they describe as a ‘Pride-ban’—an amendment to the law on the right of assembly, which imposes stricter conditions on mass events that violate the child protection law. Among the speakers was the infamous German MEP Daniel Freund, who effectively admitted that Brussels has been working for years to oust Viktor Orbán’s government, with the current demonstrations being no exception.
According to media reports, Hungary permanently lost access to €1 billion in EU funds at the end of last year. However, Minister of EU Affairs János Bóka of Hungary vowed that ‘as long as Hungary has a national and sovereign government, it will not lose a single euro cent’ and that ‘Hungary will use all legal and political means to obtain the remaining funds’ in a Facebook post.
According to Hungarian Finance Minister Mihály Varga, Hungary has received an additional HUF 184 billion from previously frozen EU funds. Varga pointed out that these funds serve as an ex-post contribution to the wage increases for teachers and kindergarten teachers, which were pre-financed from the budget.
Jeremy Wayne Tate, founder and CEO of the Classic Learning Test, replied to a clip of a press conference shared by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, in which he discusses his state being ranked #1 in education by U.S. News for the second year in a row.
Conservative investor Nelson Peltz was trying to get new members elected to the board of directors at the 3 April shareholders meeting and thus steer the company away from their woke agenda, to no avail. The same woke board members retained their positions, to which the market, expecting a change, did not react well.
Additional previously frozen EU funding is set to reach Hungary, this time totalling more than €70 million. However, more than €20 billion funds are still withheld by Brussels.