Hungarian EU minister Enikő Győri to open Parliament Magazine event

By Martha Moss - 24th January 2011

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Hungarian EU affairs minister Eniko Gyori will surely be hoping for a more amorous reception from MEPs than that endowed on prime minister Viktor Orbán when she opens the Parliament Magazine's biannual presidency bonanza this evening.

With the Hungarian presidency off to a shaky start and Orbán having faced a showdown in the Strasbourg plenary last week over his controversial media law, Gyori will likely seek to reassure MEPs over Budapest's priorities in the coming months.

Meanwhile, parliament's group leaders have set out their views on the presidency in the latest issue of the Parliament Magazine. S&D chair Martin Schulz calls on the commission to launch a legal examination of the "content and spirit" of the media law.

"In a democracy, it is the media that scrutinises power. What the Orbán government is doing is scrutinising the media and that is not right," he says.

Unsurprisingly, EPP group chair Joseph Daul is more positive about Orbán's stewardship, and uses his article to commend the Hungarian premier's experience.

"As vice-chair of the EPP for more than eight years, he has a deep knowledge of EU matters which has helped him acquire all the essential skills for leading the European fleet," writes Daul.