LGBT rights were at the heart of the European summit which ended on Friday in Brussels. In question, the Hungarian bill prohibiting the “promotion” of homosexuality among minors, which arouses the stir within European countries. This law notably prohibits access to themes linked to homosexuality in films. After being questioned by many Member States, the European Commission ended up intervening with a letter of remonstrance addressed to the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, who does not want to challenge his law.
Faced with the Hungarian leader, Emmanuel Macron preferred to delay. Less firm than some of his European counterparts, the French head of state, who is preparing to take the rotating presidency of the EU, thus hopes not to further widen the gap which separates Budapest from the other Member States of the Union.
The threat of using EU “legal instruments”
“This new Hungarian law is clearly discriminatory and as befits a democracy, we will fight against it using legal instruments,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. A first. Until now, the EU has been very discreet about the issue of LGBT rights in Hungary.
Hungary has 10 million citizens. That’s 10 million reasons for Hungary to be & remain in the EU.
Our EU is based on democratic values which include, in particular, the protection of minorities against discrimination.
We must work every day to ensure that our democracies live. pic.twitter.com/Irz5lv3eod
– Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 25, 2021
The subject is now widely highlighted and it is a relief for associations, as stated by David Vig, director of Amnesty International in Hungary. “This law does not only violate the founding principles of the EU, human rights, the state of human rights, equality and non-discrimination, but also the rules on audiovisual,” says il at the microphone of Europe 1. “I think that it is on these bases that an infringement procedure can be launched. It is very important that there is political pressure to push for the total withdrawal of this law.”
However, for the NGOs, the solution cannot come only from the other Member States of the Union. Hungarian resistance is needed, they say, relying in particular on the strong mobilization in Hungary. Between 5,000 and 10,000 people gathered in front of the Hungarian Parliament as the bill was debated in the hemicycle.
A delicate posture for France
Our values make our Union.
We won’t give in to it. pic.twitter.com/IvvoPrG0UY— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 25, 2021
If the head of state is walking on a ridge line, it is because France will preside over the EU in six months. Emmanuel Macron knows it, an east-west divide within the Union is resurfacing. Among the countries which did not sign the letter of condemnation of the Hungarian policy are Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Croatia, countries which were on the other side of the Iron Curtain before 1989.
A few months before the French presidency, no question therefore for Emmanuel Macron to further increase the fractures within the EU.
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