The European liberal political elite has been put on view: it’s become clear why Brussels is constantly examining and harassing Hungary and Poland and why it is all the more lenient with other states. The Spanish Periodista Digital online portal published a lengthy article the other day detailing the statements of a former Spanish EU representative. The opinions of the politician in question, Carolina Punset, cannot be ignored given the fact that she previously served as a representative of Ciudadanos in the liberal ALDE party family.
This political formation took on the name Renew Europe after Emmanuel Macron took office, and now also includes the Hungarian liberal party, Momentum, among its ranks.
A conscious, direct attack
It is clear from the article quoting Carolina Punset that Renew Europe – which Katalin Cseh, Momentum MEP, belongs to – is deliberately targeting Hungary and Poland. One important reason being that, these attacks pose no political risk to the party’s formation. According to the article, Punset best illustrated this in the case of freedom of speech. According to the former MEP, the gravest threat to freedom of speech in Europe was the Islamist terrorist attack on the editorial offices of Charlie Hebdo.
It is very difficult to speak out, politically, as there are so many Muslims living in Europe and the problem of political correctness emerges
– said the former Spanish MEP. She went on to say: “Living in Brussels, you live in a city conquered by Muslims. So many women wear headscarves. You can run into problems in Brussels if you speak out strongly on the subject.”
On the other hand, if the MEP criticizes Hungary or Poland, she won’t have any issues. Neither politically nor in such a way to spark protests for this reason.
Fear in Brussels
On another occasion, Punset made things even clearer. She said that in order to be able to say that MEPs had indeed voted in favor of freedom of speech, it would be necessary to condemn the violent attacks on teachers and journalists. But they do not do this because they are afraid, fearing intimidation and the threat of boycotts.