It is never a problem to have an independent opinion, Justice Minister Judit Varga said in an online debate on the rule of law organised by Germany’s foreign affairs society DGAP.
Varga said on Facebook after the debate that at the event she had “tried to invite the ‘champions of comfort’ into the Hungarian ring, encouraging them to break out from the bubble, to open up to other opinions, to be brave to know the other side’s arguments”. Most importantly, she said, she had challenged them “to dare to face the mainstream, because it is never a problem to have an independent opinion”. The minister said that in the past decade there had not been a single debate, panel discussion, conference or international interview “for which the arguments or questions on the rule of law and liberties of liberal politicians, narrators and journalists were not possible to be known in advance”. The minister said that not a “single new thought”, question or context had been conveyed at any of those forums. “It is such a comfortable pose since 10-20 NGOs and 10-20 global media outlets will always tell you exactly what to think and what to represent in these matters anyway,” Varga said. Over the past decades, this sort of political and ideological “laziness” has “created a huge bubble for the West in which you don’t have to think”, just simply recite “the usual mantras and magic words after which you will be a ‘good man’ and avoid the civilized world’s curse”, she said. This is why, Varga said, she had always considered it “an exciting challenge” to take part in discussions and debates on the rule of law.
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