A majority of countries in the EU speak out, at the initiative of the Netherlands, against a new law with which the Hungarian government wants to make the Pride in Budapest impossible. The countries want Hungary to reverse the law. If not, the European Commission should “make it easy to use all legal means that it has at its disposal.”
The countries speak out in fierce words against the government of Viktor Orbán in a joint statement. It is in the hands of NRC And will be released on Tuesday. On Monday evening, 16 of the 27 EU countries had signed the letter, reports a European diplomat who is involved in the discussions. In addition to the Netherlands, there are also Belgium, France and Germany, as well as Scandinavian and Baltic countries.
“We are extremely worried by [de wetten] They have been adopted by the Hungarian parliament that goes against the fundamental rights of LGBTIQ+persons, “write the signatories in the statement. They first of all refer to the law that criminalizes and participate in the pride,” under the guise of protecting children “. They also object to a second passed law that allows the Hungarian government to use face recognition software to detect participants.
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The letter does not come at a coincidental moment. On Tuesday, ministers of European cases from all EU countries in Brussels meet for the eighth time about whether Hungary still respects the fundamental values of the EU. That question has been on the table since 2018, due to an accumulation of controversial laws and measures from the Orbán government.
Patience
Formally, the European Commission does not have to take action based on the statement. But the letter is seen by diplomats in Brussels as a signal that the patience with the actions of Budapest under Orbán is starting to run into the other European capitals.
The European Commission could oblige Hungary to allow the Pride Mars. For this, however, the required support from the committee seems to be missing, also because such an obligation cannot be enforced and can be ignored by Hungary.
Last week, a group of European Parliamentarians called on the European Commission to no longer transfer money from European funds to Hungary due to legal violations. For that reason, the committee has already frozen 18 billion euros in money for Hungary.
In the most extreme case, the other EU countries can deprive the voting rights in the EU context, but that requires the support of 26 countries (all countries, min Hungary) in the final vote. Such a overwhelming majority seems far away for the time being.
News platform Euractiv reported on Monday that Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission President, would have advised against traveling to the Pride in Budapest, so as not to provoke Orbán’s government. The Dutch cabinet received the request of a chamber majority to travel to the Pride, including all coalition parties except the PVV, but does not seem to plan.
The organizers of the Pride-Mars have said they intended to organize the event, which was planned at the end of June, despite the ban.