Czech Lawmakers Back Hungary's Embattled Orban At Prague Rally

PRAGUE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2018) Around 200 people, including Czech lawmakers, rallied Thursday outside Hungary's embassy in Prague in support of Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his domestic policies.

The Hungarian right-wing government was slammed last week by the European Parliament for flouting democratic values after it passed reforms seen as undermining judiciary and media freedoms.

"You cannot punish a lawfully-elected government for delivering on its campaign pledges," Tomio Okamura, deputy speaker in the lower house of the Czech parliament, said in a televised comment.

Jaroslav Foldyna, deputy head of the Social Democratic Party, called on the Czech government and other members of the regional Visegrad group to stand by Hungary.

Jaromir Kohlicek, a Czech member of the European Parliament who voted against the resolution condemning the Orban government, called the motion "shameful."

The parliament's resolution was applauded by hundreds of Hungarians who took to the streets over the weekend to denounce government policies at rallies staged by opposition leftist parties.