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Stormy end to Hungary's tumultuous EU presidency

05 July 2011, 16:57 CET
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(STRASBOURG) - Hungary's tumultuous six-month EU presidency came to a stormy end Tuesday as Prime Minister Viktor Orban launched a fierce defence to criticism of his country's controversial constitution.

Rebuking critics in a combative speech, outgoing Orban said "I will always defend Hungary from remarks and criticism, from Brussels or elsewhere."

"Brussels is not Hungary's command centre," he said at a press conference later.

"No government, no country has the right to spell out the Hungarian constitution. That is up to the Hungarian people."

The European Union, he hammered, had to respect the constitutional identity of its member states.

Parliamentarians nonetheless approved a resolution calling on Budapest to act on problems noted in a recent report on the constitution, which comes into force on the first day of the new year.

The Venice Commission, an independent advisory body to the Council of Europe, last month raised concerns over the body of law, citing a lack of transparency and debate over its drafting and adoption.

The constitution sailed through parliament in April, backed by Orban's Fidesz party, which enjoys a two-thirds majority, but has drawn heavy criticism from civic groups, rights organisations and opposition parties.

Ahead of Tuesday's parliamentary vote on it, Orban drew new fire on his appearance in the assembly as EU president, with Greens leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit dubbing him a "dictator".

Hungary's EU presidency -- now in the hands of Poland -- was overshadowed from the beginning by a disputed media law that Budapest was forced to modify under pressure from Brussels.


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