The state secretary responsible for international communication and relations has called for greater solidarity “as we all face the most serious pandemic in a century, when governments everywhere are battling an unknown enemy and doing our best to protect the population against the spread of the virus.”
Zoltán Kovács said in a blog entry that the “vociferous criticisms” of the Hungarian government’s coronavirus defense bill “come as nothing new. Even so, it’s disappointing and pathetic,” he said. After “a decade of … malicious and inaccurate reporting on Hungary … we still have a democracy, a free media, a boisterous opposition and, prior to the present coronavirus crisis, one of the strongest economies in the EU,” he said. “After what we’ve seen over the last ten years, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. But somehow I thought – as we all face the most serious pandemic in a century, when governments everywhere are battling an unknown enemy and doing our best to protect the population against the spread of the virus and to save lives – I guess I hoped that this time we’d see a little more solidarity,” he said.