Recently, five members of the European Parliament arrived in Hungary for a three-day visit, investigating the state of the rule of law in Hungary. The mission is part of the ongoing Article 7 procedure, which could lead to Hungary’s voting rights being suspended in the EU, initiated by the European Parliament against Hungary in 2018 for allegedly undermining the rule of law. The EP’s delegation was led by Tineke Strik (Greens/EFA, Netherlands), who vowed to hold discussions with members of the Hungarian civil society and the authorities about recent developments in the country. The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), whose delegation was led by Strik, last made a fact-finding mission to Budapest four years ago, in 2021.

Albeit the Tineke Strik-led delegation was supposed to establish ‘facts’ about the state of the Hungarian democracy and rule of law during their time in Budapest, Strik had her mind made up about these matters long before arriving in Hungary. On 1 April—before the mission—she posted on X: ‘In the midst of massive protests against Orbán’s complete destruction of the rule of law and democracy, he quits the ICC…The EU must act against this impudent disregard for international law.’ This post was not the first from Strik commenting on the situation in Hungary—in fact, the Dutch MEP announced her appointment as rapporteur on Hungary by saying: ‘I look forward to collaborating with other political groups and leading a strong common charge against Orbán’s destruction of the RoL (rule of law).’ These posts made weeks before the mission arrived in Hungary strongly demonstrate that the Strik-led mission had its opinion ready about Budapest long before carrying out the ‘fact-finding’ mission. In addition, Strik’s X posts also outline what the suggestions of the mission will be to the European Parliament: ‘the EU must act’, that is, Budapest can reasonably expect increasing pressure from Brussels in the coming months.

The so-called fact-finding mission included members only from left-wing and globalist parties, as the right-wing of the European Parliament refused to take part in the mission, and thereby, it did not justify its objectives. Members from the European Conservatives and Reformists, Patriots for Europe, and the Europe of Sovereign Nations group declined to take part in the LIBE Committee trip to Hungary.

Just like members of the above-mentioned EP political groups, senior Hungarian government officials, such as the justice and interior ministers, also refused to meet with the LIBE Committee. Head of the Sovereignty Protection Office, Tamás Lánczi, who spoke to members of the mission, called out the visit for being a ‘show trial’ against the country’s effort to safeguard its sovereignty from foreign interference.

With her appointment, Tineke Strik joined the long line of—almost exclusively—left-wing rapporteurs on the conservative government-led Hungary. Previous EP reports on Hungary were led by left-wing politicians such as Judith Sargentini (Greens/EFA), Rui Tavares (Left), and Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Greens/EFA). Based on her previous statements, Strik is most likely to use the LIBE Committee’s report to further the goals she set out with relation to Hungary over a year ago: take away the country’s voting rights and keep its EU funds frozen.

The urge to keep EU funds unavailable to Hungary and the effect this decision has on the country is particularly relevant given the remarks recently made by Tisza MEP Kinga Kollár. In front of a Committee in the European Parliament, Kollár argued that the rule of law conditionality mechanism—under which billions of euros in EU funds owed to Hungary have been frozen by the European Commission…—‘has been very effective and had a very effective impact on the everyday life of Hungarians.’ She added: ‘On the positive side, the deteriorating standard of living of Hungarians has actually strengthened the opposition’—as the Hungarian Conservative has reported earlier.

Kollár’s comment received criticism from the Hungarian right and has been seen as proof that the EU froze Hungary’s funds with the intent of undermining the right-wing government’s public support. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also criticized MEP Kollár’s speech, arguing that representatives are supposed to serve Hungarians’ interest in Brussels, rather than utilizing decisions that are financially detrimental to them, to seek more power—see Hungarian Conservative’s article for more. During the EP fact-finding mission, MEPs criticized Hungary for a ‘very hostile atmosphere’ for LGBTIQ people, adding that Hungary is going in the ‘wrong direction’. With regards to the legislation recently passed in Hungary, the delegation called on the European Commission to ask the Court of Justice of the European Union to suspend the law introducing amendments to the law on the right of assembly. The amendments to the law on the right of assembly, which are likely to lead to changes in the conditions of how the Budapest Pride can be organized, were introduced due to child protection concerns. The amendments aim to protect children from being exposed to indecent behaviour on the streets. The LIBE Committee’s report is expected to be finalized in the coming months, and a debate and vote about its conclusions in the European Parliament are likely to take place after the summer.

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