Several MEPs and groups in the European Parliament have condemned the decision of the Hungarian Parliament not to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on combating violence against women (see EUROPE 12382/13).
On Tuesday 5 May, Hungarian MPs had backed a statement by the Orbán government declaring that the convention would promote “destructive gender ideologies” and “illegal immigration”.
Fidesz member Edina Tóth (EPP, Hungary) welcomed the statement and stressed that “all legal guarantees to protect women from domestic violence are already contained in Hungarian law”.
Evelyn Regner (S&D, Austria), chair of the European Parliament Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, said the arguments put forward were “absurd” and that she regretted Hungary's opposition to the “first legally binding European instrument” on gender violence.
In the eyes of European Socialists, this opposition once again shows a “drift from EU values”.
The GUE/NGL—who denounced “misogynistic and xenophobic rhetoric” — and the S&D also deplored the fact that such a decision comes at a time when domestic violence is increasing due to the ongoing health and economic crisis (see EUROPE 12470/23, 12464/23).
The European Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, said on Wednesday 6 May that the European Commission supported “this valuable human rights agreement”.
Ms Dalli pledged to make European Union ratification of the Istanbul Convention her main objective. For the time being, despite requests from MEPs (see EUROPE 12379/19), the situation has not changed and the Commissioner has merely ensured that equivalent legal measures would be adopted in the event of failure (see EUROPE 12440/7).
Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia are also yet to ratify the text. Last November, the Slovak Parliament had already voiced opposition to this, even calling on its government to block the EU's accession to the Convention. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)