BUDAPEST, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian opposition party Momentum has backed a petition that aims at Hungary joining the newly set up anti-corruption watchdog of the European Union (EU), the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), according to Momentum here on Saturday.
"Momentum endorses and supports the petition launched by Akos Hadhazy that aims at the adhesion of Hungary to the European Public Prosecutor's Office. If you would not like politicians filling their pockets with billions of EU funds, sign the petition too!", Momentum announced on its official Facebook page.
In November 2017, the EU adopted a resolution in order to set up a European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). This Europe-wide body will tackle large-scale, cross-border crime against the EU budget.
The remit of the Office will be limited to offences of this type. And it will operate in only the 20 countries that have so far signed up to it. The new Office is expected to start operating from late 2020 or early 2021.
Akos Hadhazy is a member of the Hungarian parliament, an opposition deputy who is well-known in Hungary for his anti-corruption work.
In February 2017, with a political campaign called "Nolimpia", Momentum gathered signatures necessary to hold a referendum blocking the hosting of the 2024 Olympic Games in Budapest.
In 2017, Momentum had already conducted a successful petition to stop the Hungarian government from hosting Olympic games in the capital Budapest.
The campaign of Momentum was initiated in January 2017 based on fear of overspending and corruption. Fearing the success of a referendum, the Hungarian government finally stepped back from the bid.
The actual petition for the Hungarian integration to the EPPO aims at gathering one million signatures before the end of 2018, and although the signatures do not compel the government to join the EPPO, Hadhazy says the government will not be able to ignore the will of such a mass.
"Petitions are the same successful political pressure tools as demonstrations or strikes. Success depends only on how many signatures we collect. The government does not deal with a demonstration of 100 people, but take a hundred thousand demonstrators seriously," Hadhazy declared before journalists at the start of the petition.
