Daily Times

Hungary on Saturday threw its weight behind a Polish constitutional court ruling that challenged the primacy of EU law, urging the bloc to respect members’ sovereignty. Poland’s Constitutional Court on Thursday challenged the primacy of EU law over Polish law by declaring several articles in the EU treaties “incompatible” with the country’s constitution. It also warned EU institutions not to “act beyond the scope of their competences” by interfering with reforms of Poland’s judiciary — a major bone of contention with Brussels. In a government decree welcoming the court’s decision, Hungarian nationalist premier Viktor Orban called on Brussels “to respect the limits of the sovereignty of the member states,” according to his press chief Bertalan Havasi. The decree signed by Orban accuses the EU of “bad practice”, seeking to “deprive” members’ rights “by stealthy extension of powers”. “The primacy of EU law can take precedence only in areas where the European Union has competence,” the decree said. Orban’s cabinet chief Gergely Gulyas accused European institutions of “attempting to misinterpret the clear decision” handed down by the Polish Constitutional Court. Orban — an ally of Polish right-wing Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki — has frequently been at odds with Brussels over rule-of-law, refugee and other issues.