Hungary to EU: get your facts straight
Public Administration and Justice Minister Tibor Navracsics has advised EU Justice and Fundamental Rights Commissioner Viviane Reding to get her facts right before questioning judicial independence in Hungary, the latest move in a spat over sweeping government reforms.
Reding had said she expected Hungary to abide by a European Court of Justice ruling and reinstate over 200 judges and prosecutors forced out of office when the ruling Fidesz party lowered the mandatory retirement age from 70 to 62. Navracsics fired off a tetchy letter on Monday, two days after Reding’s words were published as an interview in left-wing newspaper Népszava.
The European court ruling does not include any reference to the alleged lack of independence of the Hungarian judiciary, Navracsics wrote.