Latest news with #CsabaDömötör
Budapest Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Budapest Times
MEP: More than 1.2 million sign petition on Ukraine's potential EU membership
Csaba Dömötör said fast-tracking Ukraine into the EU would "devastate the already struggling European economy". Fidesz MEP Csaba Dömötör told a forum in Zalaegerszeg on Monday that more than 1.2 million people have already returned the questionnaire on Ukraine's potential EU membership, which would have an impact on the lives of all Europeans as well as the continent's future. Addressing the latest leg of Fidesz party's national tour, the MEP said fast-tracking Ukraine into the EU would 'devastate the already struggling European economy'. Dömötör said Brussels was treating it as a foregone conclusion that all accession chapters would be opened this year, aiming for Ukraine to achieve full membership by 2030. Rather than taking the candidate's merits into account, 'the Brussels elite believes its diktat must be accepted', he added. Cohesion funds and agricultural subsidies for Hungary, he said, would be reduced drastically, and markets, including in agriculture, may even open before full membership, with 'severe consequences' and big losses for Hungarian farmers, Dömötör said.
Budapest Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
MEP: EC signed at least 37,000 contracts with NGOs worth 17 billion euros in recent years
The list of organisations included a multitude of organisations that were supposed to be civic, but they were in fact involved in political activities. Csaba Dömötör, MEP of Hungary's ruling Fidesz, said that between 2019 and 2023, the European Commission signed at least 37,000 contracts with NGOs worth a total 17 billion euros. In a statement to the press in Strasbourg on Tuesday, Dömötör added that the list of organisations included 'a multitude of organisations that were supposed to be civic, but they were in fact involved in political activities'. 'We will publish the list of organisations because everybody has the right to know what European and Hungarian taxpayers' money is spent on,' Dömötör said. 'These NGOs do not represent groups in society but promote the interests of a small leftist elite: they echo the commission's position across Europe and weaken the border protection capabilities of member states; in many cases they have started lawsuits against member states in cooperation with immigrants, and organise action against democratically elected governments…' he said. 'Many of these organisations are financed by the European Commission and players overseas, while they do not have a local base of supporters; they are kept alive by a political will rather than locally organised groups of society,' Dömötör said. He added that 'several thousand of the subsidised organisations' were registered in Brussels. Meanwhile, the MEP said the European People's Party had recently adopted a resolution urging fast-tracking Ukraine's EU membership and preparation of the community for the next cycle of enlargement, adding that such issues as extra burdens or the impact of Ukraine's accession on public security or European agriculture were not even mentioned. Dömötör also said that Hungary's opposition Tisza Party 'obviously' supported Ukraine's EU accession.
Budapest Times
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Fidesz MEP: Although Magyar may deny it, Brussels wants to fast-track Ukraine's EU accession
Csaba Dömötör said the screening process was taking place "with unprecedented speed" and the Commission was helping Ukraine full steam ahead. Fidesz MEP Csaba Dömötör said that although opposition Tisza Party leader Peter Magyar may deny it, various resolutions and statements 'prove that Brussels wants to fast-track Ukraine's EU accession'. Dömötör told Hungarian journalists in Brussels on Tuesday that certain Hungarian politicians, including Magyar, were attempting to brand the accession moves as 'a lie' and 'not even possible', yet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently said in Kyiv that Ukraine could become an EU member before 2030. Dömötör said: 'What's this if not fast-tracking?' Also, EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos has started to campaign to gain support for Ukrainian membership, he added, citing her as saying that Ukraine would become deeply integrated into the European economy 'no matter what'. Dömötör cited her as saying that this was 'already happening' and 'we will speed it up'. Domotor insisted that the EU wanted to accelerate Ukraine's integration into parts of the single market. The commissioner also talked of how the EU was 'aware of the consequences' for Ukraine's neighbours, including Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The Fidesz MEP said the screening process was taking place 'with unprecedented speed' and the Commission was helping Ukraine full steam ahead. 'The enlargement plans are a priority for the Commission,' he said, adding that they were not even holding a debate on the matter and failing to address basic questions such as the consequences of admitting 'a country at war and full of weapons' to the bloc. Dömötör said no questions were asked about the burden to the EU budget or the budgets of member states, or indeed what impact all this would have on European agriculture and Hungarian farmers. He cited the 'European Commission-funded' Jacques Delors Institute as estimating that funding for Hungary is shrinking by 15-22 percent. 'But they say not a word about this in the European Parliament,' he added. 'What we're seeing is a highly elite policy implemented by excluding voters…' he said.
Budapest Times
22-04-2025
- Business
- Budapest Times
Dömötör: Tisza Party cannot deny support for Ukraine
Csaba Dömötör warned that Ukraine's possible membership, being "an issue involving thousands of billions of forints", could fundamentally impact the opportunities of the European and Hungarian economy. 'The Tisza Party cannot deny the importance of Ukraine's European Union entry … in Brussels, Tisza MEPs have supported a resolution on the European Union's budget that includes passages with regard to Ukraine,' Csaba Dömötör, MEP of ruling Fidesz, said. Dömötör told a press conference in Budapest on Wednesday that through adopting the resolution, Tisza's MEPs 'voted full and unconditional support for Ukraine … and voted for the EU to spend even more money on Ukraine and that Ukraine should proceed towards EU membership'. He said that, according to statements by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Ukraine could be granted a fast-track procedure to become a member with full rights even before 2030. He accused Tisza of trying to downplay the importance of the issue. Dömötör warned that Ukraine's possible membership, being 'an issue involving thousands of billions of forints', could fundamentally impact the opportunities of the European and Hungarian economy.
Budapest Times
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Fidesz MEPs turn to European Ombudsman over financing of NGOs
Csaba Dömötör said Fidesz MEPs would again submit their requests for information. "If we're denied entry through the door, we'll knock again ... but more firmly," he said. Ruling party MEP Csaba Dömötör said on Thursday that Fidesz MEPs are turning to the European Ombudsman concerning the financing of NGOs, adding that the European Commission did not appear ready 'to disclose the list of its agreements with political activists'. According to MTI, Dömötör said it was likely that there were more than 10,000 such contracts. He noted that the Fidesz group filed 86 requests with EC directorates and background institutions to obtain information, adding that the directorates had refused every one. He said the rejections were 'absurd', adding that the EC website provided only partial information concerning the matter. 'In addition … the amounts [quoted on the website] are often nowhere near the sums included in member states' reports,' he added. Dömötör said Fidesz MEPs would again submit their requests for information. 'If we're denied entry through the door, we'll knock again … but more firmly,' he said. The Fidesz group also will turn to the recently elected European Ombudsman, for whom 'nothing should be more important than ensuring transparency, especially when it comes to European taxpayers's money, or supporting liberal policies promoted by these organisations, even if in many cases they are in conflict with the will of European voters,' he said. Dömötör said he had been informed that 'certain MEPs' in the EP's budget control committee had been given the list of 'activist contracts' from some of the directorates, but 'they were asked not to disclose them… They were even instructed that each group should have access to as many contracts as many MEPs they have in the committee… This is totally absurd.' The MEP said, 'parties of the grand coalition are quiet because they are implicated.' He mentioned an MEP, for example, who he said was a supervisory board member of a Bavarian company that received subsidies in the million-euro range from the EC. 'The MEP receives an annual 75,000 euros for that second job, which clearly indicates why groups in the grand coalition are not so active: they have interests,' he added. While Hungary ensures the transparency of contracts, with the documents and contract amounts available on ministries' websites for 14 days, the EC, which 'comes up with even more stringent transparency criteria for member states by way of rule of law procedures, does not disclose even basic information,' he said. The EC has provided support to 'at least 54 organisations of so-called fact-checkers, including left-liberal groups in Hungary', Dömötör said, adding that those groups 'often act as censors'. The European Parliament democracy shield committee refused to answer relevant questions, he said. 'Moreover, at their last session, they even tried to prevent the question from being asked; that says all about their attitude towards transparency,' he said. 'They are not accustomed to applying those democratic values, principles and virtues that they keep demanding from member states and their governments. It is not part of their practice, and this is what we want to change. And we will,' the MEP said.
