Dutch MEP Tineke Strik (Greens/EFA), the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the rule of law in Hungary under the Article 7 procedure launched in 2018 (see EUROPE 13716/23), sounded the alarm on Tuesday 30 September about a situation that could “become quite grim” during the Pride march planned for Saturday 4 October in Pécs, a town in southern Hungary. The march was banned by the police and the decision was upheld by the country’s Supreme Court, the Kúria.
At a press conference, the MEP pointed out that the event’s organisers “will be much more on their own” than in Budapest in June (see EUROPE 13670/17), where the mayor allowed the event to go ahead despite the ban. She noted that the Pécs edition would be “much smaller”, with less international visibility, and that five neo-Nazi demonstrations had been authorised on the margins.
Tineke Strik also drew attention to the planned use of facial recognition by the authorities and the fact that organisers risked up to a year’s imprisonment, while participants could face a fine of €500.
She also questioned the position of the Hungarian courts, the Kúria having ruled that the issue did not fall within the scope of EU law and thus refused to refer the matter to the Court of Justice. “We really should stop Orbán’s impunity”, she said, describing the reforms announced by the Hungarian government to reassure the EU as “sham constructions and no substantial improvements”.
The European Commission, when questioned the day before at its press briefing, reiterated its support for the fundamental rights of LGBTQI people. Spokesperson Eva Hrncirova noted that “the right to demonstrate peacefully, to assemble peacefully, is one of our fundamental values”, adding that this position “also applies to this Pride”. The European Commission is continuing its analysis of the Hungarian law pertaining to gatherings and is awaiting national feedback.
On 23 September, the LGBTQI rights association ILGA-Europe sent a letter (https://aeur.eu/f/ioy ) to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and to Commissioners Hadja Lahbib and Michael McGrath, denouncing a “new attack on the fundamental right of assembly”, and calling for the rapid opening of infringement proceedings accompanied by interim measures. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)