In its Monday issue, the conservative German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) published an interview with Gulyás Gulyás, the minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office, under the title Criticism of the European Commission is incorrect.

The minister emphasized in the interview that already in August, after the formation of the government, a strategic agreement was concluded with the European Commission. At the same time, the European Parliament exerted a lot of pressure on the committee, but if someone objectively and professionally examines the legislative work carried out in the Hungarian Parliament, then in the coming months we can release some of the suspended EU funds due to Hungary.

As he said, the conditions prescribed by the committee, the vast majority of the 27 milestones, have already been met, so the Integrity Authority was set up, which is still working.

At the same time, regarding the new authority , "we must honestly say that the committee's current criticism is not correct" , since the board wanted to regulate a process and not discuss individuals - added Gergely Gulyás, underlining that the government has transposed all the committee's demands into legislation , and in the legally regulated process, he had absolutely no influence on who would be the president of the authority or who the vice presidents would be.

Therefore, it is completely incorrect to say after the process is over that one of the three vice-presidents is unacceptable to the committee, he stated.

When asked what the government is going to do in this situation, he said that they are acting in accordance with the committee's proposal, and that who is the vice president of the authority is not treated as a priority matter. We are waiting for the committee's draft on how to replace the vice president of an independent authority in a European manner , said the minister.

Regarding the Elios case mentioned by FAZ , he explained that the Integrity Authority can also investigate cases in which there is no prosecution procedure, regardless of whether it is an EU-funded project.

He noted that the case took place a decade ago, and it is a good sign that it is the biggest accusation in such a long time, especially when compared to the current corruption scandal of the European Parliament.

When asked why Hungary does not join the European Public Prosecutor's Office, he said that the refusal to join is a matter of sovereignty, but at the same time, according to the head of the public prosecutor's office, cooperation with Hungary is much better than with other member states that have joined the organization. He added that the Integrity Authority can initiate criminal proceedings with a judicial order if there are signs of a crime.

Speaking about the economic situation, Gergely Gulyás emphasized that the financing of the country is ensured even without EU resources, and even "as long as we want".

In response to the suggestion that, according to the president of the Hungarian National Bank, Hungary is one of the four most financially vulnerable economies in the world, he stated that "this is not correct", since Hungary's economy is stable and the problem is energy prices, just like in other countries.

He explained: economic growth is close to five percent this year, which is one of the best in Europe, but at the same time we have economic difficulties that arise from the export-oriented economic structure and from the fact that natural gas and crude oil have to be imported at seven times the price compared to the level before the war in Ukraine. He added that he agrees with the need for stability in the forint exchange rate.

Regarding the relationship with Russia, he said that it is in Hungary's interest to receive oil and gas from Russia, which is why they have formed a rational partnership in this area.

However, as far as Russian aggression is concerned, we share the common position of the EU, said Gergely Gulyás.

Source: MTI

Photo: MTI/Noémi Bruzák