Hungary's Orban wants free rein on death penalty

Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orban raised again on Friday the thorny topic of the death penalty in the European Union, saying member states should be able to decide on the issue themselves.

"We want to form European public opinion toward bringing back to national competency level the question of whether to introduce the death penalty or not," Orban said in a radio interview.

"If that happened, then we could decide whether to bring it in or not. There is no reason for all EU countries to think the same on this question," he told the Kossuth public channel.

Hungary abolished capital punishment after the end of communism in 1990, fulfilling a key condition for membership of the EU, which it joined in 2004, and whose treaties ban its use.

Orban has repeatedly clashed with Brussels over a number of policies that critics say endanger core EU values, and his call last month for a debate on the death penalty earned him yet more criticism.

Analysts say that Orban's raising of the issue, together with recent comments on immigration, may be an attempt to counter rising support for the extreme-right Jobbik party, which supports the death penalty.

Last month he said existing punishments for murder were too soft and on Friday Orban said many Hungarians believed there would be greater public security if the death penalty was in force.

"If we can protect (citizens) without bringing in the death penalty then so be it. But if that doesn't work, then it should be brought back," he said.