Extent to which the elections in Hungary on 6 April were democratic

15.7.2014

Question for written answer P-005777-14
to the Commission
Rule 130
Csaba Molnár (S&D)

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has published its report on the Hungarian elections held on 6 April 2014. To summarise the report: the governing parties won a landslide victory thanks to restrictive rules on campaigning, the political bias of the media and a campaign which merged government and party activities into one. In the light of the report, these elections can hardly be considered free or fair. The elections in question violate EU standards and the principles of democratic elections on a number of points.

1. Was the conduct of the Hungarian elections on 6 April 2014, during which the procedure for Hungarians voting abroad was different depending on whether or not they had a permanent place of residence in Hungary, in harmony with the provisions of the prohibition on discrimination and the principle of the equal right to vote laid down in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and in the Preambles to both the TEU and the Charter of Fundamental Rights?

2. In the light of the findings of the report, namely that the principles of media pluralism and of free, unrestricted media access for political rivals were violated, to what extent did the Hungarian elections comply with Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the common values referred to in the Preamble to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Statute of the Council of Europe?

3. In view of the OSCE report of 11 July 2014 and Parliament’s resolutions on the Hungarian election law and the situation of the media, are there plans to investigate the Hungarian elections of 6 April 2014 and/or seek an opinion from the Venice Commission?