A coalition of the European Parliament’s (mostly leftist) parties signed a joint letter on Sunday, April 23rd, criticizing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and calling for the European Commission not to release the billions of cohesion and pandemic recovery funds frozen over Hungary’s alleged rule of law violations last year.
“We believe [the latest legislative developments in Hungary] will further contribute to undermining the values enshrined in the Article 2 TEU, and the deterioration of the rule of law, fundamental rights and democracy,” the letter reads.
The signatories include the European People’s Party (EPP) and all leftist groups in the European Parliament, namely the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the liberal Renew Europe group, the Greens/EFA and The Left (GUE/NGL). These parties currently control 540 out of the EP’s 705 seats. It appears only the conservative ECR and ID (with a total of 138 seats), as well as the 27 unaffiliated MEPs, did not join the initiative to ask for the prolongation of Hungary’s punishment.
The timing of this latest push is not accidental. On the very next day, April 24th, Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga met with Commissioner Didier Reynders to discuss the technical implementations of the judicial reform package—seen as the most important part of the criteria needed to unlock the funds. After the meeting, Varga said the commissioner found the reforms satisfactory and an agreement has been reached to refer the case to the Commission’s final political decision, signaling that the process is coming to an end, at last.
However, the parliamentary groups who call for keeping the funds frozen argue that the judicial reforms are not enough, citing the alleged violations of LGBT rights above all else. In particular, the letter draws attention to the recently proposed ‘Complaints Law,’ which included a provision that would have allowed the reporting of individuals who question the fundamental values of the Hungarian constitution, such as the marriage as a union between men and women. However, the law was already struck down by President Novák for its incompatibility with freedom of expression last week, making the entire argument moot.
The other LGBT-related concern the letter brings up is connected to Hungary’s controversial child protection law adopted two years ago, which limits or prohibits the “promotion of homosexuality and gender transition” in schools and media. Claiming it was discriminatory—while Hungary insists on the opposite since it doesn’t affect adults, only the education of minors whose sexual education should be decided by the parents only—the Commission initiated a lawsuit against Hungary at the European Court of Justice over the law last year and was later joined by the European Parliament and 15 EU member states.
At an MCC Brussels event on Monday, Justice Minister Varga also addressed these criticisms of the child protection law, underlining that democracy means respecting the will of the Hungarian people, who gave their overwhelming confidence in both the law and the Hungarian government. Hungary accepts all other ideological positions, she said, and all it wants from the EU in return is reciprocity.
