Orbán's contempt for European values
On 15 June, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán approved a bill that, in order to protect children's rights, prohibits the discussion of sexual and gender diversity in schools. Furthermore, it would be forbidden to disseminate any symbol or icon related to the LGTBI collective, claiming that this would help to curb child pornography, paedophilia or child abuse. Thus, LGTBI people are being linked to the commission of these practices.
A Hungarian government spokesperson explained to the British newspaper The Guardian that "there is content that children under a certain age can misinterpret and which may have a detrimental effect on their development at that age, or which children simply cannot process, and which could therefore confuse their developing moral values or their image of themselves or the world".
It is undeniable that this legislation, which the president of the European Commission herself, Ursula von der Leyen, called "shameful", restricts the rights of LGTBI people. But this is not the first time Orbán has been the subject of controversy in the European institutions. In 2020, the Hungarian parliament passed laws to prevent adoption by same-sex couples, and banned transgender people from changing their documentation to align their sex at birth with their gender identity. Earlier, in 2011, it also declared that only a union between a man and a woman is considered marriage.
On all these occasions, there has been no shortage of voices expressing outrage at the passing of these laws. But much quieter has been the debate about the fact that they have been adopted in a member state of the European Union, founded on the fundamental values of respect for human dignity, human rights, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law. Orbán has systematically violated each and every one of them, despite having signed the same statutes as the rest of the states that make up the Union.
Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte expressed his displeasure in no uncertain terms, calling on his Hungarian counterpart to leave the EU. "You should withdraw the law, and if you don't like it, and you really think that European values are not your values, you should consider whether you should stay in the European Union," Rutte said during a summit in Brussels, opening the debate on whether countries like Hungary should leave the Union if they continue to do so.
For the time being, leaving the EU would be the last resort. However, the European institutions can no longer turn a blind eye to events of this nature and have already begun to take certain actions. A letter from the European Commission to the Hungarian Ministry of Justice states that the proposed law contradicts several articles of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and that it will not hesitate to take legal action if it is passed. In addition, 17 EU countries, including Spain, have signed a joint declaration in which they express their deep concern about a law that stigmatises the LGTBI community and restricts freedom of expression under the pretext of protecting the right to freedom of expression under the pretext of protecting children. It urges the European Commission to use all existing mechanisms to ensure that European law is respected, including referring the matter to the European Court of Justice.
One of the actions most demanded by society is probably the imposition of sanctions on the Hungarian government. However, this will require a unanimous vote. The outrage caused by the anti-LGTBI law in Western Europe has not been echoed in some Eastern European countries such as Poland. Polish President Andrzej Duda and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki refused to sign the joint statement against the law. A vote to impose sanctions would be prevented by the Polish veto. To address this problem, the Commission said that a novel mechanism could be put in place later this year to freeze EU funds for countries that do not respect fundamental rights, which would include Poland as well as Hungary.
In addition to all these actions, and although it did not seem necessary at the time, it is clear that it is essential to strengthen the mechanisms that ensure that all states that are part of the Union respect the same values. The situation regarding LGTBI rights has been deteriorating in many EU countries, and the rise of parties such as the Hungarian Fidesz has contributed to the fact that the groups most at risk of discrimination are increasingly unprotected. The EU must be much more forceful in its response to human rights violations and must ensure that all Europeans have the same protection of their rights in all EU territories.