Hungary not to introduce death penalty: PM

Hungary has no plans to introduce the death penalty, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told European Parliament President Martin Schulz over the phone on Thursday.

Cabinet chief Janos Lazar told a press conference that Orban and Schulz discussed the issue.

There is a debate on the death penalty, so it's not that there is a plan to introduce the death penalty, Orban said.

Lazar said Orban also told European People's Party leader Joseph Daul and group leader Manfred Weber that a debate was ongoing in Hungary about the death penalty, and the government would respect the European Union law.

Hungary respects the EU legal system as a whole and the EU should not reject any debate that concerns people's lives and difficulties, Lazar said.

During his visit to the southern Hungarian city of Pecs on Tuesday, Orban made comments on the murder committed recently in a tobacco shop in south-west Hungary.

He said that the death penalty should be kept on the agenda. A few years ago the government believed that it had put an end to debate on the Hungarian criminal justice system when it introduced the "three-strikes" law and whole real life sentences, he said, adding that these measures did not have sufficient deterrent effect.

It must be made clear to criminals that Hungary will use all means to protect its citizens, Orban said.

Orban's remarks triggered harsh reactions in Hungary and in Brussels.

Hungary's radical nationalist Jobbik party leader Gabor Vona told public TV news channel M1 that his party had repeatedly called for a public debate and a national referendum on the death penalty. He said he would say "yes" to restoring death penalty in a referendum. Endit