BUDAPEST: Hungary on Wednesday slammed a top EU court decision on a mechanism allowing Brussels to slash funding to member states that flout democratic standards, saying it was “politically motivated”.
The European Court of Justice rejected a challenge by Poland and Hungary to invalidate the mechanism, opening the door to the European Commission cutting their funding.
“The decision is living proof that Brussels is abusing its power,“ Justice Minister Judit Varga said in a Facebook post.
“The Court of Justice of the Union delivered a politically motivated judgment because of the Child Protection Act!” she said, referring to legislation passed last year which bans the “promotion” of homosexuality to minors.
“This is another pressure against our country only because we adopted our law on child protection last summer,“ she said.
Critics say the law discriminates against the country's LGBTQ community.
The European Court of Justice ruled that the mechanism “is intended to protect the Union budget from effects resulting... from breaches of the principles of the rule of law” and was thus allowed under EU treaties.
The judgement exposes Poland and Hungary -- seen as democratic backsliders in the 27-nation bloc -- to the risk of seeing money cut from the billions of euros in EU funding they receive. - AFP