EU urges limits on virus powers as Hungary adopts crisis law

BRUSSELS: European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen warned on Tuesday that coronavirus emergency measures taken by EU countries must be “limited”, after Hungary’s nationalist leader Viktor Orban took on sweeping powers.

Brussels’ top official did not single out Orban or Hungary by name in her statement, but it came a day after he adopted rule by decree, claiming extraordinary powers ostensibly to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The European Commission will closely monitor, in a spirit of cooperation, the application of emergency measures in all member states,” she tweeted. “We all need to work together to master this crisis. On this path, we’ll uphold our European values and human rights. This is who we are and what we stand for.”

Orban’s spokesman for international relations responded to the EU statement directly, also on Twitter, saying: “We completely agree. That’s why the Hungarian state of emergency and extraordinary measures are congruent with the treaties and Hungarian constitution and targeted exclusively at fighting the coronavirus,” he insisted. “It upholds EU values, rule of law, press freedom.”

In a separate statement read out by her spokesman, Von der Leyen admitted: “Over the past weeks, several EU governments took emergency measures to address the health crisis caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus”.

“We are living in extraordinary times, and governments, in principle, need to have the necessary tools to act rapidly and effectively to protect the public health of our citizens,” she added.

But, in a clear but unstated reference to events in Hungary, she insisted: “Any emergency measures must be limited to what is necessary and strictly proportionate. They must not last indefinitely.”

“Democracy cannot work without free and independent media,” she said. Hungary is threatening prison sentences for journalists who publish what it deems “falsehoods” about the virus or the measures against it.

Critics at home and abroad have condemned Hungary’s “anti-coronavirus defence law”, saying it gives Orban unnecessary and unlimited power and is a means of cementing his position rather than battling the virus.

After declaring a state of emergency on March 11, the new law passed on Monday gives Orban the power to indefinitely rule by decree until his government decides the emergency is over. It removes the current requirement for MPs to approve any extensions to decrees. Elections cannot be held either during the emergency period.