EU staunchly condemns Hungary’s vile anti-LGBT+ law as an ‘attack on democracy’
Prime minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán at a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia on July 08, 2021. (Filip Stevanovic/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The European Union parliament has denounced a Hungarian law that bans the “promotion” of LGBT+ people to minors as a “clear breach” of equality legislation.
Just one day after the bill went into effect, European Parliament lawmakers voted 459-147 with 58 absentations for a resolution that sent a clear signal that the bloc “commends in the strongest possible terms” the anti-LGBT+ law.
MEPs described the law as being a “clear breach of EU values, principles and law”, referring to those enshrined by the EU Charter of fundamental rights, the Treaties and EU internal market legislation, according to a European Parliament press release.
In a resolution, adopted with 459 votes in favour, 147 against, and 58 abstentions, the European Parliament condemns the recent anti-LGBTIQ legislation and denounces the dismantling of democracy and the rule of law in Hungary.
— European Parliament (@Europarl_EN) July 9, 2021
They dubbed the law as “yet another attack on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights”.
Hungary’s International Communication Office told PinkNews that the prime minister Viktor Orbán’s wrap on the vote’s result remains unchanged, referring PinkNews to comments made Thursday ahead of the vote in which he refused to give in to EU pressure to repeal the law.
“The European Parliament and the European Commission want us to allow LGBTQ activists into our nursery and elementary schools,” Orbán said in the statement.
“Brussels bureaucrats have no business here,” he added, stressing that “no matter how hard they try, we won’t allow LGBT+ activists among our children in nursery and elementary schools”.
MEPs jointly urge European Commission to take action against Hungary
The resolution, while non-binding, adds to the growing pressure on the European Commission, the executive arm of the bloc which is the official guardian of compliance with the treaties, to fast-track infringement procedure against the country.
MEPs also called on commission bosses in the resolution to thrust the matter to the European Court of Justice, the bloc’s supreme court, which, if considered, could enforce scathing financial penalties.
They then urged member states to launch an inter-state application to the European Court of Human Rights.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen delivers a speech during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France on July 07, 2021. (European Parliament / Pool/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“Alarmed that the Hungarian legislation resembles the 2013 ‘LGBT Propaganda law’ in Russia, MEPs call on the Commission to investigate the financing of anti-LGBTIQ campaigns in Europe in-depth,” the press release continued.
The anti-LGBT+ law has come to deepen the fault-lines between Hungary and the EU, with MEPs hounding Hungary for undermining democratic rule, the independence of the judiciary and the free press.
The commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, has sharply criticised prime minister Viktor Orbán’s government for ramming in amendments to an anti-paedophilia bill that blocks all mentions of queer people in schools, the media and in advertising.
“Homosexuality is equated with pornography,” she said at a debate in Strasbourg, France Wednesday. “This legislation uses the protection of children […] to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation.
“It is a disgrace.”
