The European Commission's actions against Hungary are out of all proportion, Austrian right-wing MEP Harald Vilimsky says. The politician argues that the EC is seeking to penalise the member state for something the EU itself is planning.

The EU is becoming the benchmark for double standards, where what is deemed beneficial for the EU triggers infringement procedures against Hungary. It doesn’t get more absurd than that”, remarked Harald Vilimsky, leader of the Austrian Freedom Party’s (FPO) delegation to the European Parliament, in response to the European Commission launching a new procedure against Hungary. The EC’s move is based on new legislation by the Hungarian government aimed at preventing foreign interference, but Brussels interprets it as a restriction on free expression in Hungary.

„The European Union itself is also planning to adopt a new law against foreign influence, obliging NGOs and academic institutions to disclose all non-EU funding in order to combat foreign influence in the EU. So why the same thing qualifies as a violation of freedom of expression in Hungary is something that no one really understands. In other words: if it’s a violation of free expression in Hungary, then naturally the same principle should apply to the EU,”

– Ms Vilimsky said. The right-wing MEP believes that the European Commission is waging a genuine campaign against Hungary, unafraid of resorting to even the most absurd arguments. Simultaneously, he notes that the EU embarked on an illiberal path long ago, passing a series of laws that progressively restrict freedom of expression.

„An example is the Digital Services Act, with its internet censorship, or the European Media Freedom Act with its attempt to create a central media watchdog, or the East StratCom Task Force, through which the EU is trying to exert influence in third countries, especially in Eastern Europe,”

– the Austrian Freedom Party’s lawmaker has said.