The Fazakas Controversy

The process of "lustration" is one whereby former Soviet states are purging their political structures of former KGB assets. This of course often includes former operatitves of domestic secret police and other security service. Nowhere is this being pursued with more vigour than in Lithuania, where former EU Commissioner, now President, Dalia Grybauskaitė is urging more speed and efficiency in the process.
 
The question of the presence of former KGB assets has always been an embarrassing stone in the European Commission's shoe. Hungarian MEP Tamás Deutsch has now highlighted another issue, which he raised prior to the appointment earlier this month of fellow Hungarian Szabolcs Fazakas, himself a former socialist MEP, to the European Court of Auditors.
 
Deutsch has unearthed papers from the Historical Archives of State Security Services of Hungary seeming to show that Fazakas was recruited in 1976 by the State Security Service, the communist secret police, on a "patriotic basis" (i.e. he entered the service voluntarily) for activities of counter-espionage. He allegedly operated under the codename "Stefan".
 
During votes to confiirm the appointment of auditors, far less support was shown by the European Parliament for Fazakas than for the other nine candidates, who all received between 545-573 votes in favour. Fazakas received 348 votes for, 213 against and 60 abstentions.
 
Fazakas should hope that the fad for "lustration" never spreads to the EU institutions!