Orbán’s latest transgression against basic rights must not stand, MEPs say

On Wednesday, lead MEPs representing a majority in Parliament condemned the Hungarian government’s move to limit the right of assembly and ban the Budapest Pride.

Commenting on the adoption of an amendment to the Assembly Act of Hungary that can be leveraged to try to ban the Budapest Pride by designating it as an assembly that violates the Child Protection Act, lead MEPs signed the following statement.

“The Orbán government’s latest attack on European values has taken shape before our eyes. This attempt to suppress peaceful assembly is an undeniable violation of basic rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and the values that bind our Union together, as well as the European Convention on Human Rights. Moreover and as usual, the bill was tabled in the Hungarian Parliament using the so-called “accelerated procedure” and approved in two days' time, without impact assessment, consultation or debate, as has been the case for many laws used to backslide on fundamental rights, the rule of law and democracy in recent years.

This is not an isolated incident. Hungary’s government has been taking steps backwards consistently and deliberately for many years, dismantling institutions, the rule of law, and freedom of expression. In its systematic undermining of both the rights of its own citizens and the EU as an area of peace and prosperity, it has reached a point where an EU country is no longer a full democracy. This fight is not just about the Pride march; it is about the right of everyone in Hungary to live in freedom and dignity.

However, this latest instance of backsliding is particularly appalling: in 1997, Budapest became the first capital in the former Communist bloc to host a Pride march, a landmark moment for equality and freedom. Now, this government wants to turn the clock back by decades and drag the country back to a much darker past.

The European Parliament has been calling on the member states to take action since 2018 by applying the Article 7 procedure of the EU Treaties to protect our values. It is high time that they stop stalling.

We also call on the Commission to assess whether this law violates the EU Treaties as a matter of urgency and commence infringement procedures, in addition to the ongoing one against Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ law. Budgetary conditionality rules should also be applied to protect EU funds from being used in a manner that infringes the rights of Europeans, civil society, and vulnerable groups.

We, as the democratically elected representatives of all Europeans, stand in full solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, Hungarian civil society, and democratic citizens across Europe in rejecting this oppressive decision. History teaches us that authoritarianism always fails in the end - as it did in Hungary before. We pledge to exhaust all means at our disposal in the fight against this shameful decision to narrow the right of assembly. ”

Sophie Wilmès (Renew, BE) - DRFMG Chair & Shadow rapporteur

Tineke Strik (Greens/EFA, NL) - Rapporteur on Article 7 TEU procedures on Hungary

Michał Wawrykiewicz (EPP, PL) - Shadow rapporteur & DRFMG member

Alessandro Zan (S&D, IT) - DRFMG member

Chloé Ridel (S&D, FR) - DRFMG member

Krzysztof Śmiszek (S&D, PL) - Shadow rapporteur

Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová (Renew, SK) - DRFMG member

Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, DE) - DRFMG member

Alice Kuhnke (Greens/EFA, SE) - DRFMG member

Konstantinos Arvanitis (The Left, EL) - Shadow rapporteur & DRFMG member

Gaetano Pedulla' (The Left, IT) - DRFMG member

Kim van Sparrentak (Greens/EFA, NL) - Co-president of the LGBTIQ+ Intergroup

Marc Angel (S&D, LU) - Co-president of the LGBTIQ+ Intergroup

Background

MEPs have repeatedly declared that there is a need to determine whether Hungary has committed “serious and persistent breaches of EU values”, including by calling for a decision under the more direct procedure of Article 7(2) TEU instead of the Article 7(1) process that Parliament initiated in 2018 and that remains blocked in the Council.