Legislating Fear: Banning Pride is the latest assault on fundamental rights in Hungary

Following the Prime Minister’s statement concerning the banning of the annual Pride, MPs of the governing majority submitted a set of amendments to the Fundamental Law (Hungary’s constitution) on 11 March to create a constitutional-level basis for such action. On 18 March, another bill was submitted by MPs of the governing majority amending laws to ban assemblies that might breach the “substantial element of the prohibition” prescribed in the infamous anti-LGBTQI Propaganda-Law and impose harsh financial penalties for participants of such events. The bill was forced through Parliament within a day and will enter into force on 15 April 2025.

This discriminative amendment not only violates the fundamental rights of LGBTQI people and citizens who support them, but by allowing for the blanket use of facial recognition techniques to identify unknown perpetrators of all petty offences, violates privacy rights of every person in Hungary with the aim to further instil fear among those who voice dissent.

Hungarian human rights organisations urge the European Commission to launch an infringement procedure addressing the entirety of the new changes for breaches of EU law, as outlined below. At the same time, considering the gravity and urgency of the consequences of the amendments, the European Commission shall immediately request the suspension of the application of the anti-LGBTQI Propaganda Law, which serves as the primary basis of the banning of the Pride, in the ongoing, related lawsuit at the Court of Justice of the European Union (C-769/22).

Download the joint statement here.

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