This was happening “not only during the campaign period but also before it”, Zoltán Kovács, the state secretary for international communications and relations, told Hungarian journalists in Brussels. The Hungarian government does not expect anything good to come out of Wednesday’s European parliamentary debate, “obviously a political campaign, part of a witch hunt against Hungary”, he said. “There’s nothing, no new event, that justifies putting Hungary back on the agenda by the European Parliament,” he said, adding that Hungary’s government would not be represented in Brussels at the debate accordingly.

Kovács said that ever since the Hungarian government had adopted a strong position on the issue of migration, procedural issues related to justice and rule of law had been launched against the country. “How is it possible for European institutions, and the European Commission in particular, to shape the rules to meet their political role and purpose?” he said.