The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) made its ‘usual’ pre-election-year visit to Hungary to assess the state of the rule of law in the country. The visiting delegation was led by Tineke Strik, a Dutch Green MEP and a fitting successor to Judith Sargentini, who authored the first European Parliament report on Hungary’s rule of law situation in 2018. That report prompted the Parliament to urge the Commission to initiate Article 7 proceedings against Hungary.

The LIBE delegation arrived in Hungary on 14 April with the stated aim of investigating the independence of the judiciary, media and academic freedom, transparency and anti-corruption efforts, the state of civil society, and the rights of LGBTIQ people. This was the third such delegation visit to Hungary; the first occurred in 2011, following the adoption of a controversial media law by the Hungarian parliament—a moment many consider the start of a new and darker chapter in Hungary–EU relations. LIBE returned again in 2021, one year before the 2022 parliamentary elections, with nearly identical goals to those declared now.

No Right-Wing MEP in LIBE Delegation

Over the course of their three-day visit, the delegation met with a range of representatives from the sectors under review, including NGOs critical of the government, opposition figures, and government officials. The list of NGOs consulted by the MEPs is telling: among them were the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the Ökotárs Foundation, TASZ, Menedék – Hungarian Association for Migrants and Transparency International—organizations that, despite their designation as civil society actors, receive substantial funding from the globalist network exposed by US President Donald Trump recently, and from Hungarian-born US billionaire George Soros. 

The composition of the delegation also sheds light on just how ‘non-partisan’ the visit truly was—or, rather, how much it served as a tool of Brussels’ political interference ahead of Hungary’s elections. As noted by Mátyás Kohán in Mandiner, the delegation included former Belgian prime minister Sophie Wilmès—currently a vice-president of the European Parliament and member of the liberal Renew group—Pernando Barrena Arza of the far-left Basque separatist EH Bildu Party, and two MEPs from Poland’s current governing coalition: social democrat Krzysztof Śmiszek and Donald Tusk’s ally Michał Wawrykiewicz. Notably, Wawrykiewicz had travelled to Hungary before the LIBE visit to speak at an anti-government protest organized by Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar and his party, Respect and Freedom (Tisza).

‘Most delegation members…have openly declared their intent to remove Orbán from power’

In a notable development, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group—led by Giorgia Meloni and Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS)—expressed support for Hungary by abstaining from the delegation’s activities. This is significant, considering that the ECR includes a number of parties critical of Hungary’s policies. Absent from the delegation, of course, were the European Parliament’s third-largest group, Patriots for Europe (PfE)—co-founded by Viktor Orbán—and the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) group, which includes Alice Weidel’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), currently Germany’s largest party. These abstentions signal a shift in mood within the European Parliament: no right-wing faction is backing the witch hunt against Hungary, further reinforcing the perception that it is politically motivated.

LIBE Arrives as Domestic Tensions Mount

At a press conference concluding the visit on Wednesday, Strik described the rule of law situation in Hungary as ‘worrying’ and claimed that conditions had deteriorated since the last delegation visit. She also stated that several high-level officials—including the Ministers of Justice and Interior, the Presidents of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, and the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights—refused to meet with the delegation. While acknowledging the government’s emphasis on sovereignty, Strik criticized the Sovereignty Protection Office, established in 2024, alleging that it targets ‘independent’ NGOs and media outlets instead of serving its stated purpose.

Strik went on to lament that the Hungarian government views the European Union as a foreign interferer and announced that the delegation would send a letter to the Commission, urging immediate action against Hungary. She added that they would request the Commission to refer Hungary’s recent child protection amendment to the law on assembly—labelled a ‘Pride-ban’ by critics—to the Court of Justice of the European Union for an exceptional ruling.

Members of the delegation also claimed that Hungarian government officials were ‘aggressive’ towards them. This allegation must be understood within the context of an extremely tense domestic political climate. Just days before the visit, Tisza MEP Kinga Kollár made a controversial statement praising Brussels for withholding EU funds intended for the renovation of Hungarian hospitals—a move widely seen as political treason. In response to the LIBE visit, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of European Union Affairs Pál Zsigmond Barna remarked in a Facebook post that the Hungarian government had ‘not asked for democracy export’.

Moreover, the visit by Strik’s team now carries particular significance, as the incoming German government coalition—led by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Friedrich Merz—has included in its agreement a renewed commitment to upholding the rule of law within the EU and support for mechanisms to enforce compliance. Notably, this includes backing mechanisms to suspend Hungary’s voting rights in EU decision-making bodies.

As for the accusations of ‘aggression’ on the Hungarian side, it is worth remembering that nearly every member of the delegation is a long-time, vocal critic of Viktor Orbán and his administration. Just last October, Strik described Orbán as ‘corrupt’, ‘disloyal’, and ‘an unscrupulous violator of the EU’s most fundamental values’. Most delegation members see Hungary as an autocracy and have openly declared their intent to remove Orbán from power. Against that backdrop, one might legitimately ask: how exactly did they expect to be received? 

The delegation will now prepare its report, which will be presented to the European Parliament, debated by MEPs, and is expected to be adopted after the summer.

Related articles: