At their plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday 18 June, MEPs once again debated freedom of assembly and the need for the European Commission to take action against the excesses of the Hungarian government (see EUROPE 13613/13).
A law passed on 18 March allows the Hungarian authorities to ban gatherings deemed to be in breach of the 2021 law on ‘child protection’, and is aimed at the ‘Pride March’ scheduled for 28 June.
The European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law, Michael McGrath, pointed out that “the right to peaceful assembly is (...) enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union”. Stating that the Hungarian law was a “serious breach” of EU principles, he said that the Commission was “currently analysing this legislation and its impact under European law”.
Fabienne Keller (Renew Europe, French) condemned a situation that “has been going on for seven years”, with Hungary being the subject of an ‘Article 7 of the Treaty’ procedure on respect for the Rule of law since 2018. “What are you waiting for to act?”, she asked the Commissioner, calling on the Commission to “organise the suspension of Hungary’s veto and voting rights” in the EU Council.
Tineke Strik (Greens/EFA, Dutch) criticised a Commission that “has the legal tools, but (...) is afraid to use them”.
A group of MEPs from the left and centre have expressed their solidarity with the Hungarian demonstrators and announced their participation in the Budapest Pride on 28 June. “I will be in Budapest to say that our rights are not negotiable”, said Mélissa Camara (Greens/EFA, French). Klára Dobrev (S&D, Hungarian) denounced what she saw as a form of “cowardice” on the part of right-wing MEPs and EU Commissioners of the same political persuasion.
“Because of the right-wing groups in Parliament, it has not been possible to include gay rights in the title of today’s debate”, she pointed out.
For the EPP, Sweden’s Tomas Tobé declared that “the Hungarian people have the right to live freely in a democracy that respects the Rule of law. This is what sets Europe apart: a union of freedom”.
A contrario, Michał Wawrykiewicz (EPP, Polish) pointed to a “Putinisation of the political system”.
On the radical right, many MEPs defended Viktor Orbán’s government. Kinga Gál (PfE, Hungarian) denounced “a campaign of persecution”. For Nicolas Bay (ECR, French), “public order and the protection of minors are clearly national competences and the European Union therefore has no business interfering”.
At the beginning of June, the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Tamara Ćapeta, ruled that Hungary was violating several fundamental principles of European law, including freedom of expression, non-discrimination and freedom to provide services, by applying a law restricting content representing LGBTIQ+ people (see EUROPE 13654/26). (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)