On 23 September, the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament (JURI) will discuss and vote on the request from the Orbán regime in Hungary to waive the parliamentary immunity of MEP Ilaria Salis, before the final decision is brought to the plenary session in Strasbourg in October. The Committee discussion will take place alongside a similar vote to lift the immunity of Péter Magyar, leader of the Hungarian opposition and leading opponent of Orbán.
In the event that the European Parliament acquiesces to the political demands of Orbán’s illiberal, anti-European government, the decision will have significant consequences for elected leaders throughout Europe. The Parliament itself has repeatedly confirmed that Orbán has progressively dismantled rule of law and democracy in Hungary, with a 2024 Resolution stating that Hungary does not meet the standard of judicial independence set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The lifting of the immunity of Left MEP Ilaria Salis would illustrate the weakness of the European Institutions in face of an authoritarian regime. For the European Parliament to allow a sitting MEP to appear before a show trial orchestrated by an increasingly autocratic state would be a clear defeat for European democracy and a violation of the fundamental rights that must protect every citizen. Hungary’s judiciary has been shown to systematically target minorities and critics of the Orbán regime.
The Left in the European Parliament continues to call for a complete ban on extradition to Hungary, and concrete measures to protect activists from persecution across the EU. The fight against repression, authoritarianism, and hate remains critical to preserving the core values of justice and democracy in Europe.
