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According to article 2 of the treaty of the European Union, the EU is founded on respect for human dignity in societies where “pluralism, non-discrimination [and] tolerance prevail”. Try telling that to the organisers of next month’s Budapest Pride march.
Following new laws introduced by Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz government, Hungary has become the first EU country to legislate to enable the banning of a Pride event. An amendment to the country’s constitution now allows public LGBTQ+ events to be designated a threat to children, expanding the scope of earlier laws targeted at schools. As a result, organisers and participants in Budapest’s Pride celebration on 28 June risk being fined and harassed if they turn up to the parade.
Unsurprisingly, and accurately, Mr Orbán’s ban has been described as a “full-frontal attack” on LGBTQ+ people. It is also a typically machiavellian manoeuvre by Hungary’s prime minister, intended to provoke a backlash from liberals at home and abroad. As Fidesz trails in the polls ahead of elections next year, Mr Orbán is turning to his polarising playbook once again.
The fact that Mr Orbán may be hoping for a reaction does not mean there should not be one. The banning of a Pride parade in a European capital would be in flagrant contravention of EU law regarding freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. A delegation of EU lawmakers who visited Hungary last month reported that the new law had already created a “very hostile atmosphere” for LGBTQ+ Hungarians and led to a rise in violent attacks.
In Brussels, demands for a showdown with Mr Orbán were already growing, partly as a result of his pro-Putin obstructionism throughout the war in Ukraine. Hungary is currently denied access to €18bn in EU funds, due to rule-of-law concerns relating to issues such as the treatment of asylum seekers and corruption. But its rogue prime minister has largely led the European Commission a merry dance and shown contempt for its strictures. This week 20 member states, including France and Germany, published a declaration demanding that all possible sanctions should be deployed if the new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is not withdrawn.
Unanimity rules mean they would be unlikely to include the suspension of Hungary’s rights as a voting member of the European Council – a move that would be vetoed by Slovakia’s national populist government. But at the very minimum, the council should move swiftly to identify Mr Orbán’s government as clearly in breach of EU values and act to substantially close off its access to Brussels’ funds.
The first Budapest Pride parade took place in 1997. Writing in the Guardian last month, an opposition MP described the event as “the largest recurring demonstration of human rights in Hungary”. According to polls, 78% of the city’s residents wish it to go ahead as normal. At a time when the EU’s liberal norms are being challenged by the rise of authoritarianism and intolerance in the west and beyond, its leaders must respond robustly to Mr Orbán’s latest shameless attempt to undermine them for his own political ends.
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