“Why do you think I’m not an ally of women? I live with four women, I have three daughters and I live with my wife, don’t you consider me an ally of women? This is how the candidate to repeat as European commissioner of the Hungarian far-right Viktor Orbán defended himself against the accusations of misogyny and the interrogation about the right to abortion that he was given this Wednesday in the European Parliament, where he underwent the exam this Wednesday to continue in the European Commission , this time in the Animal Health and Welfare portfolio.
The progressive forces asked him about the rights of the LGTBI community and women, specifically about abortion in the face of the obstacles that his Government has placed in Hungary, where the obligation to first listen to the heartbeat of the fetus. Before establishing himself as an “ally” of women due to the fact that he has a wife and daughters, Orbán’s candidate had left abortion legislation on the roof of the member states.
“It is a question of constitutional law and human rights, and not so much a medical one. It is also a national prerogative, there are no European powers regarding abortion,” he stated: “Each member state adopts a different position. “They are options and decisions of societies.” What he did assure is that sexual and reproductive rights “are part of human rights” and, when questioned by LGTBI people, he pointed out that “access to health is a fundamental right” and that “gender does not matter.”
Varhely is one of the weak pieces of the College of Commissioners that Ursula von der Leyen has devised based on the proposals that governments have made to her, despite the fact that she has relegated him from the Neighborhood and Enlargement portfolio, which will be one of the most relevant issues in the legislature, to Animal Health and Welfare. But the far-right politician’s relationship with parliamentarians, whom he once referred to as “idiots” in his last term, has not been good.
But the European Parliament’s revenge has remained half-finished. Varhely has not been knocked down, although he has received a warning. After this Wednesday’s examination, he did not obtain the confidence of two-thirds of the coordinators of the committees that examined him, as the other 15 nominees who have passed through the European Parliament so far have done. Socialists, liberals, greens and the left opposed giving it the go-ahead. Finally, the decision adopted was to force him to answer questions in writing.
“He didn’t convince us at his first hearing. It seemed too focused on business, lacked commitment to animal welfare and did not comply with standards for women’s health or reproductive rights,” say the Social Democrats, who are waiting for “clarifications” in writing. “How can we support a Health Commissioner who is not capable of criticizing a Member State – his own – that chose the Russian and Chinese vaccine against the coronavirus instead of those approved in Europe, who is not able to explain how it is going? to help women in the EU have safe access to their sexual and reproductive care and rights, and who claims that he is on the side of women because he has four at home?” asks liberal MEP Pascal Canfin.
Once he answers the questions in writing, the coordinators of the parliamentary commissions examining Varhely will have to meet again to see if he passes the filter, for which he needs two-thirds of support (he has that of the three forces of the extreme right , but needs more support from the rest of the groups). In the event that it does not obtain that percentage, it would be called for a new oral exam after which it would require the support of two thirds of the coordinators or, if not achieved, the simple majority (more yeses than noes) of all the MEPs of the commissions involved (Environment and Agriculture).
If rejected, Orbán would have to make a new proposal, which would be put through the process again. On previous occasions, the European Parliament has always knocked down candidates, such as Emmanuel Macron’s last term or the first Hungarian candidate. The problem now is that the launch of the new community government, scheduled for December 1, would be delayed (even more).
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