Hungary has made “no progress” in the areas of transparency of justice, media independence, and protection of civil society, the European Commission said, calling on Budapest to respect the principles of the rule of law.

The European Commission presented its sixth annual report on the state of the rule of law in the 27 EU countries, AFP reported.

The indictment against Viktor Orbán's Hungary, which has been in the European Union's crosshairs for years, is uncompromising.

Brussels considers that Budapest has made “no progress” in “improving the transparency of case allocation systems in the first instance.”

The Commission also criticized Hungary for its lack of progress on the independence of the media regulatory authority and in the fight against corruption.

The European Union report also states that “no progress has been made in removing obstacles to civil society organizations.”

The European Commission recommends that Hungary “strengthen rules to improve the governance and editorial independence of public media.”

It also calls on Budapest to “ensure that there are no obstacles to the work of civil society organizations.”

And it wants “investigations, prosecutions, and final judgments in high-level corruption cases.”

The European Union has already frozen €18 billion in funds earmarked for Hungary under various procedures related to concerns about the rights of LGBT+ people, asylum seekers, as well as public procurement conditions and conflicts of interest.

The conflict has escalated further with the new Hungarian law restricting the rights of LGBT+ people and the authorities' decision to ban the Budapest Pride march at the end of June.

A huge crowd gathered in the Hungarian capital during the Pride march to protest against this unprecedented setback for LGBT+ rights in the EU.

Two days later, Viktor Orbán described the Pride march as “shameful.” | BGNES