Has a chamber majority A letter signed That encourages the Hungarian government to withdraw the controversial Anti-LGBTI Act. Last Tuesday’s bill makes new anti-LHBTI measures in Hungary possible, such as prohibiting the annual Pride-Mars in Budapest.
The European Affairs Chamber Committee calls on Hungary to withdraw the plans immediately and also appeals to the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union: “The rights of the LGBTI community in Hungary must be respected and protected.”
We are not standing for restricting liberties
GroenLinks-PvdA, VVD, NSC, D66, BBB, SP and Party for the Animals support the call from the initiator of the letter, Volt party leader Laurens Dassen. Only the SGP voted against, because according to MP Diederik van Dijk it is a “domestic affair” and the European Union is not about “sexuality and family affairs.”
The other parties – PVV, FVD, ChristenUnie, JA21 and DENK – have abstained from mood. Despite the abstinence and the against vote, the letter is supported by a majority. According to Volt, a call from the Chamber to reverse a law abroad is rare. Initiator Dassen emphasizes that it is more than symbolic politics. “We stand up for the values of freedom and equality.”
Box thinking
The BBB is also ‘worried’ about the Hungarian bill and has decided to support the letter, while BBB is not known for statements of support to the LGBTI community. For example, party leader Caroline van der Plas in a parliamentary debate in 2024 ‘LGBTI’ still dismissed as a ‘letter box’.
BBB MP Martin Oostenbrink, member of the European Affairs Committee, says that this statement was not intended to “put” people away, but to approach them as “full-fledged individual” and therefore not to “reduce the community to a letter.”
Oostenbrink thinks it is important to underline the “freedom of expression” and the “demonstration law” towards Hungary. The Member of Parliament is not a fan of ‘boxes’, and says that he can support his ‘personal values’ and at the same time guarantee the fundamental rights ‘of another’. Oostenbrink sees it as a task to take action when the freedom of people is ‘threatened’.
Credibility
An official response from the current cabinet to the Hungarian Anti-LGBTI Act is not forthcoming.
Last July, the European Commission announced that it would not participate in the EU ministers in Hungary. The boycott was a reaction to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán who had recently started a ‘peace mission’ with Putin and XI. Minister of Justice and Security, David van Weel (VVD), nevertheless left for Hungary despite the European sensitivity and earlier criticism of Ruttes cabinets.
Dassen regards the letter as an important signal to Orbán: “We are not standing in front of limiting liberties.” The fact that PVV leader Geert Wilders and Orbán are ‘two hands on one belly’, according to Dassen, does not affect the credibility of the letter from the Chamber Committee.