Press release, 2 March 2012
During her visit in Sweden, the Speaker of the Seimas Mrs Irena Degutienë met with Ms Gunilla Carlsson, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation, and Mr Oscar Wåglund Söderström, State Secretary to the Minister for EU Affairs.
The decision of the Hungarian Parliament to change the Constitution of the country and the Draft Resolution on the Sovereignty and Free Self-Determination of Hungary, registered at the Lithuanian Seimas, were among the topics discussed in the meetings. The Speaker of the Seimas observed that the Resolution had not been adopted yet and that it had been drafted and registered by 25 Members of Parliament belonging to the ruling Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrat Political Group.
The Speaker of the Seimas underlined to the Swedish Government representatives that in the Draft Resolution, the Members of the Seimas expressed their respect for the resolve of the Hungarian Parliament to change the Constitution, which was adopted during the rule of the communist regime in 1949, and thus terminate the relation with the alien heritage imposed by force by the occupation regime. At the same time, the Draft Resolution supports the new Hungarian constitutional provision on non-application of the statutes of limitation to crimes against humanity which were committed against the Hungarian nation and people in the times of nationalist, socialist, and communist dictatorships.
“The Draft Resolution expresses support to the Hungarian constitutional aim to foster Hungarian culture and unique language, as a contribution to the diversity of united Europe, as well as traditional fundamental Christian values. The Draft Resolution underlines that the European integration process cannot threaten the national foundations of a country and has to promote understanding between nations and cultures and respect for each other. It further highlights that the European integration cannot be targeted at artificial social and cultural unification of European countries and nations.”
The Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament added that the Draft Resolution did not express support to the Hungarian decisions on the questions put forward to Hungary by the European Commission, i.e. the questions regarding the judiciary system, independence of the central bank, or data protection in Hungary.
Secretariat of the Speaker of the Seimas
Juozas Ruzgys, Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas, Tel.: (+370 5) 239 6023; (+370) 698 42073
