Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, center, speaks to President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, left, and President of Cyprus Nikos Anastasiades during the EU Summit at the European Council Building in Brussels
EU leaders clashed with Hungary’s prime minister during a heated summit on Thursday over new legislation in their country that would ban children from showing content about LGBT issues, a measure that has been widely spread across the region. and has angered human rights groups.
Most leaders insisted that discrimination should not be tolerated in the 27-nation bloc and told Viktor Orbán that the new Hungarian law goes against the fundamental values of the EU.
“Being gay is not an option; have to be homophobic,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Cru told Orban during the meeting, according to an EU diplomat. The man spoke anonymously as is usual practice.
Another diplomat said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Root began a furious rhetoric, suggesting that Orban activates the same clause in the bloc’s treaty that Britain would have left if it was not happy with EU principles. So said another diplomat.
Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga said on Twitter that Hungary had no intention of leaving the EU. “On the contrary, we want to protect it from hypocrites,” she wrote.
Hosting the summit in Brussels, European Council President Charles Michel recalled that values such as freedom, tolerance and human dignity are at the heart of the EU, said another diplomat with direct knowledge of the discussions.
He added that the discussion was “an intense and sometimes emotional debate.” Hungarian President Janos Eder signed into law on Wednesday after Hungary’s parliament passed the bill last week. It also prohibits the sharing of material on homosexuality or sexual reassignment with people 18 in school sex education programs, movies or commercials.
The government says it will protect children, but critics say it links homosexuality to pedophilia. It will be implemented in 15 days.
Speaking upon arrival at the meeting in Brussels, Orban refused to roll back the law, insisting that it did not target homosexuals.
“It’s not about homosexuality, it’s about the kids and the parents,” Orban said. “I am defending the rights of gay people but this law is not about them.”
The issue has become a harsh spotlight on the EU’s inability to rein in “conservative democracy” among its ranks such as Hungary and Poland, whose deeply conservative, nationalist and anti-diaspora governments have for years flouted the bloc’s democratic standards and values. have flown.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Javier Betel, who is openly gay, said Hungarian law further stigmatizes homosexuals and should be countered.
“The hardest thing for me was to accept myself when I realized I loved this person of my gender,” Betel said. “It was hard to tell my parents, hard to say to my family. … We have a lot of young people who commit suicide because they don’t accept themselves for how they are.” In coordinated messages on Twitter, several EU leaders wrote that “hatred, intolerance and discrimination have no place in our union. Therefore, today and every day, we stand for diversity and LGBTI equality to help our future May generations grow in Europe of equality and respect.”
Many attached a letter to their tweets addressed to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, who hosted its summit, as well as the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who also attended the meeting. .
“Respect and tolerance are at the core of the European project. We are committed to continuing this effort, ensuring that future European generations grow up in an environment of equality and respect,” France, Germany, Italy and Spain The letter signed by the leaders of the
Hungary was not mentioned by name, but several of those same leaders signed a letter earlier this week backed by 17 countries calling on von der Leyen’s commission to take the government to the European Court of Justice in Budapest. Justice on the bill, which sees respect for EU laws.
The Commission has already taken the first step in legal action. On Wednesday, Brussels sent a letter to Hungary’s justice minister asking for “clarification, clarification and information” about elements of the bill.
It said some of the provisions “directly violate the prohibition of discrimination based on sex and sexual orientation,” and would place homosexuality, gender change and deviation from self-identification “at the same level as pornography.”
When asked Thursday about the Hungarian bill, Guterres said, “All forms of discrimination are completely unacceptable and clearly any form of discrimination with respect to LGBTQ+ people is completely unacceptable.”
Speaking after a meeting with Guterres, EU Parliament President David Sassoli said a mechanism to pay Hungary out of the COVID-19 Recovery Fund conditional in order to respect the rule of law should be activated.
“The time has come for the law to be implemented,” said Sassoli.
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