PEGA to search illegally

“The European Left and European Parliament seek to utilize the visit for their own purposes,” said Fidesz EP representative Ernő Schaller-Baross and Hungarian member of the Pegasus-investigation committee (PEGA) in his interview with Magyar Nemzet. The committee will visit Hungary on February 20th and 21st to meet with NGOs affiliated with the Left.

EP-138314H_Plenary_18_Schengen Fotó: Philippe STIRNWEISS

What can we expect from this upcoming visit?

From a legal perspective, this visit has no consequences, nor does the Pegasus committee’s report that they will accept in spring. The European Commission has emphasized countless times that national security and related actions belong to Member State competences; additionally, there will be no EU measures or legislative initiatives in this area based on this report. In political terms, we expect the usual witch-hunt. 

Both the European Left and the European Parliament will seek to take advantage of this visit. The Left will try to forge capital based on this slander posed as fact and the EP will follow its usual imperial aspirations when “sending its investigative committee on a fact-finding operation” to play the role of the American congress. 

But Europe is not a federal state and it never will be. The truth is, the establishment of this committee and the way it operates and tries to investigate Member States is in the style of a sensational tabloid. The method of presenting reports based on rumors and newspaper articles, the “findings” of which are the repetition of biased NGOs in the Open Society Foundation network by the civil organizations that have appointed themselves in this matter, does not live up to the values of our European community based on an independent association of nation states.

Could the creation of this investigative committee be aimed at putting pressure on the European Commission in connection with the EU funds that are due our country?

It is clear that the left-wing parties of the EP –especially the Greens and Socialists – keep the agreement under constant fire. The Hungarian government has always sought compromise with the European Commission, but it is obvious that the European Parliament wants to intervene every time. Such an attack is also a tool to exert pressure. The same individuals appear in this committee as those who formulate reports against our country in plenary sessions motivated by various leftist NGOs.

Is it not rather late to be dealing with the Pegasus case a year and a half later?

It seems the committee’s work is stalling. Moreover, they are trying to formulate a report that has no tangible evidence. They are stalling for time to allow the committee’s work to continue, but since this is a temporary committee, their work will have to be completed eventually.

Photo: Philippe Stirnweiss