Judit Varga

In other news, in a surprise move, Hungary's Justice Minister Judit Varga announced on Wednesday that she was resigning; Czech energy giant made to pay out profits made on back of the energy crisis; and pro-family Slovak speaker under pressure over once slapping girlfriend.

Meanwhile, two off-duty US soldiers stationed in central Slovakia caused an incident in a grocery store last weekend, which needless to say is being exploited by pro-Russian elements in the country. Though nobody was hurt and the two soldiers did not damage anything, they were loud and under the influence of alcohol.

The Hungarian parliament adopted on Wednesday a legal amendment aimed at strengthening the independence of the judicial system, at the suggestion of the right-wing government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, DPA reported.

Given both Poland and Hungary are the two member states deemed to be the worst offenders, governments of those two countries challenged the mechanism before the CJEU in 2021, arguing that it lacked a proper legal basis in the EU Treaties.

The targets of this tool are, of course, the illiberal governments of Central Europe, with European institutions gradually losing patience with the blatant attempts by the nationalist-populist Hungarian and Polish governing parties to undermine the fundamental values upon which the EU is based.

Ten member states as well as the European Commission itself will be opposing the Warsaw-Budapest tandem, who argue that the definition of the rule of law is too vague and the mechanism merely replicates the already ongoing Article 7 procedure, but gives Brussels more room for manoeuvre while also scrapping the right of veto by member states.

This is already the second time that the Commission has indicated Hungary's submitted plans do not meet the strict requirements to access the funds.

Hungary and Poland were among five countries not to join EPPO, which will be partly staffed by prosecutors sourced from participating member states. Ireland and Denmark enjoy opt-out benefits in justice and home affairs cooperation, while the European Commission says Sweden plans to join EPPO next year. Hungary and Poland will be harder to convince.

Frontex's decision followed the Hungarian government's non-compliance with the latest judgement from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that ruled "pushbacks" at the Hungarian-Serbian border were unlawful, Frontex spokesperson Chris Borowski told hvg.hu.

Experts question, however, whether this is not just another propaganda stunt by Hungary's government.

Hungary's Justice Minister Judit Varga arrives for a meeting of EU General Affairs ministers at the European Council building in Luxembourg, 13 October 2020. EPA-EFE/VIRGINIA MAYO Pseudo-independent think tank?