Hungary fiercely rejected Monday accusations from the European Union that it was breaching EU values and the rule of law, in its first hearing before the bloc's European affairs ministers.
"Once again, we are put on pillory for rejecting mass immigration. However, the facts are on our side. We protect Hungary!", the country's justice minister, Judith Varga, said just ahead of the hearing in tweets authenticated by Hungary's diplomatic mission to the EU.
The European Parliament a year ago started formal proceedings against Hungary for alleged breaches of rule of law under its nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, accused of trampling media freedoms and weakening the independence of judges.
In theory, the action under Article 7 of the EU treaty could lead to Hungary losing EU voting rights. But that would require unanimity of the other EU member states - and fellow eastern member Poland, also in the European Parliament's bad books for allegedly eroding rule of law, is seen likely to back Hungary.