On Tuesday 27 May, the European Affairs Ministers of the EU Member States held a new hearing on Hungary’s Rule of law in a particularly tense context, as Viktor Orbán’s government has used the law to prevent a ‘Pride March’ scheduled for 28 June from taking place, and has again recently planned to pass new so-called transparency in public life laws, which are suspected of increasing the oppression of civil society and LGBTIQ+ people.
17 Member States, led by the Netherlands and subsequently joined by Greece, Cyprus and Malta, issued a joint declaration expressing their serious concerns and calling on the Commission to use all its tools to force the Hungarian government to reverse its recent draft legislation.
These 20 countries, which are not joined by Italy, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia, are particularly alarmed by the new project on transparency in public life, which aims to extend the prerogatives of the Office responsible for applying the ‘sovereignty’ law, which is supposed to track down foreign funding and interference.
At the final press conference, the Polish Minister for European Affairs, Adam Szłapka, soberly recalled that the EU is based on shared “common values” and that there are “many concerns within the Member States”, justifying that the discussion “continues” in the EU Council.
The European Commissioner for Justice, Michael McGrath, underlined the Commission’s serious concerns and recalled that “freedom of assembly is a fundamental right”. “It is not a threat to children, it is not a threat to anyone and it must be protected and upheld at all times”.
He also expressed his concern about the use of facial recognition technologies managed by AI, and recalled that he had written to the Hungarian Minister for European Affairs, János Bóka.
“We believe the draft law is a breach of EU law, including a breach of internal market freedoms, and also a breach of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. We have asked the Hungarian Government to withdraw that draft. And in the absence of that happening, and should they proceed to legislate and enact this legislation, we stand ready to use the tools at our disposal as a Commission”, he had already said on his arrival.
In March, the Hungarian Parliament adopted an amendment making it very difficult to hold Pride or any other public event organised by the LGBTQI+ communities, including criminalising participants.
The law on the transparency of public life could deprive critical organisations, NGOs, independent media or companies of all funding if the Office for the Protection of Sovereignty considers that they undermine Hungary’s national sovereignty.
But the Commissioner indicated on Tuesday evening that the Commission had no plans at this stage to request interim measures before the Court of Justice and would continue its close monitoring of the ‘transparency’ law.
The hearing itself remained relatively similar to previous ones, according to sources, with the tone not particularly raised during the hour-and-a-half-long period. More than fifteen countries are said to have intervened.
No more patience. On his arrival, the new German Minister for Europe, Gunther Krichbaum, used strong language in any case, referring to “major problems” with Hungary on the issue of the Rule of law and this law on transparency that could “undermine press freedom and democracy”. “Without freedom of expression, there can be no freedom of the press, and without freedom of the press, there can be no democracy. We are talking here about absolutely binding principles, about what unites us within the EU”. For the new Minister, Europe’s “patience” with Budapest is also diminishing “by the day”.
The Belgian Minister of Justice, Annelies Verlinden, also stressed that “values are not a menu à la carte where you can choose which one to respect and which one to leave aside. It’s a real decision of all the Member States that have joined the club to live by those values (...)”.
For his part, János Bóka said on arriving in Brussels that this hearing procedure “has always been a means of creating political hysteria and exerting political pressure”. In any event, “the Hungarian government is endeavouring to establish an open and honest dialogue in this process and is participating constructively. We have answered all the questions and comments made so far”, he said.
This new exercise was an opportunity for him to stress that there is “no ban on Pride” and to explain “the constitutional and legal framework”.
Link to the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/h2e (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)