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LAWMAKERS APPROVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

Parliament approved amendments to the constitution affecting presidential pardons, the movement of troops and clearance for European Union credit in a vote on Tuesday.
 

The amendments allow the president to issue pardons without the countersignature of a member of the government, while also prohibiting pardons for crimes against children as defined in the scope of a cardinal act. They also require a cardinal act for the movement and stationing of Hungarian Armed Forces troops abroad as well as for the stationing of foreign troops in Hungary. The amendments also require a parliamentary resolution, supported by two-thirds of lawmakers, to clear any ad hoc government decision on Hungary’s participation in taking out joint European Union credit. The thirteenth amendment to the constitution was approved with a vote of 152 for, 1 against and no abstentions. The amendments come into effect on July 1, with the exception of those concerning the military, which enter into force on November 1. The amendment proposal was submitted to parliament in February.