Thousands of Hungarian judges protested in Budapest: what sparked their outrage?
On Saturday, February 22, several thousand workers from the judicial system and their supporters marched in the capital of Hungary, Budapest, demanding guarantees for the independence of the judiciary in the country. This was reported by UNN citing Telex.
Details
Participants in the rally opposed the agreement reached between the government and the National Council of Judges of Hungary, which involves a "freeze" on salary increases for judicial workers.
In turn, the president of the Hungarian Judges' Association, Katalin Boros, noted that the government's decision could infringe on the rights of judges.
"Judges ... can serve society only under conditions of proper independence of the judiciary and living conditions. If independence is compromised, the rights of every citizen could be at risk," she emphasized.
Context
This is not the first time Hungarian judges have staged actions in support of judicial independence in the country. On December 11 of last year, after the agreement between the government and the National Judicial Council was reached, thousands of industry workers participated in protests. They claimed that the Supreme Court of Hungary "sold" the independence and honor of the judiciary by tying salary increases to the adoption of planned reforms.
Reminder
Hungary has opposed the expansion of EU sanctions against Russians and Belarusians and the allocation of a proposed EU aid package of 20 billion euros to Ukraine. This was stated by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.
Earlier, he mentioned that the European Union was again wanting to impose sanctions against the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, but Hungary blocked this.