A veteran Fidesz politician shared on social media that the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional matters, has postponed the visit of its delegation to Hungary. Zsolt Németh, who serves as the chairperson of the European Conservatives, Patriots & Affiliates group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), publicised the development late on Tuesday, June 24.
The Commission is planning to send a fact-finding delegation to Budapest to consult with the government about the concerns regarding the legality of the planned and already implemented amendments to the Hungarian constitution, in particular regarding the removal of the incumbent President of the Republic.
Németh posted that during a session of a CoE he had asked Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) about the Venice Commission’s planned visit to Hungary during a session of the Special Committee on the New Pact for Europe initiative yesterday. According to Németh, Berset said the visit had to be put off because the Hungarian government stated it would not receive the delegation at this time. Berset said the Venice Commission plays “a decisive role in resolving constitutional crises” in CoE member countries.
Concerns are growing both domestically and internationally about the recent legislative measures forced through or planned by the Péter Magyar government, something many now describe as a ’constitutional putsch.’ As we reported, the main target of the retroactive and blatantly ad personam amendments to the constitution is the sitting President of the Republic, Tamás Sulyok.
Most recently, the government also announced they intend to limit the term of members of parliament to 12 years, also to be applied retroactively. Such a step would exclude virtually all of Fidesz’s most experienced and most popular politicians from serving as lawmakers.
