Death penalty a long discussion for Europe: Hungarian PM

The death penalty "will be a long discussion in Europe," said Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary, during a press conference on Tuesday at the European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg.

The prime minister was speaking after having participated in a debate held during the May plenary session of the EP, around the current political situation in Hungary that has raised multiple issues, including the question of reinstating capital punishment.

"There is no European value that should be safe from debates," he said. "Debates improve values, not wear them off."

Orban has received criticism for recent suggestions regarding the death penalty, but in the press conference he advocated for the right to discuss the issue.

"I think it is a legitimate discussion to be raised," the prime minister said, while indicating that his personal feelings led him to see capital punishment as a means of protecting citizens from violent crime.

"[Hungarians] are frank people and we talk straight or we don't talk at all. And so we talk straight about the death penalty, and we talk straight about immigration, and we think that politically correct discourse hasn't brought us any closer to a solution," he said.

Speaking on behalf of the Latvian presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), Parliamentary State Secretary for EU Affairs, Zanda Kalnina-Lukasevica used the debate to underline that capital punishment was non-negotiable for countries wishing to remain member states.

"The EU is a union of shared fundamental values equally binding on all EU institutions and member states. The abolition of the death penalty is just one example: it is a fundamental condition for EU membership," she said.

Many parliamentarians echoed her sentiment, with Manfred Weber, Chairperson of the European People's Party (EPP), of which Orban's Fidesz party is a member, insisting that it was the official position of the EPP that the abolition of capital punishment was an example of European progress.

Representing the European Commission (EC), Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President and Commissioner of Better Regulation, Interinstitutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, argued against using populism to revise EU principles.

"Neither economic success, nor democratic mandate can weaken the position of the rule of law in any member state of the European Union," Timmermans said.

The parliamentary debate will lead to a vote and a potential resolution during the June plenary session of the EP.

Reinstatement of capital punishment would also jeopardize Hungary's status as a member state in the Council of Europe (CoE). The spokesperson for CoE Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland verified in a statement that Secretary General will be in contact with Prime Minister Orban to share his concerns. Endit