Hungary¡¯s parliament passed a constitutional amendment to enable a potential clampdown championed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban before next year¡¯s election, including through banning the annual Pride parade.
Orban, who has been in office since 2010 but whose party is now trailing in the polls, last month vowed an ¡°Easter clean-out¡± of perceived dissenters against his rule. Lawmakers from his Fidesz group delivered the two-thirds majority in parliament on Monday that was required to pass the legislation.
The proceedings are likely to exacerbate a European Union clash with Orban over his consolidation of power, which has become an inspiration for far-right leaders across the continent and beyond in a test of the bloc¡¯s ability to protect its values. The EU has suspended billions of euros earmarked for Hungary, citing corruption and the erosion of the rule of law under the premier.
One proposed legislative change concerns placing the right of a child to ¡°adequate physical, mental and moral development¡± above all other rights except the right to life. The government sees it as a way to give the police legal grounds to limit or ban the annual LGBTQ+ parade in the capital, which Orban has cast as a threat to children.
Critics say that beyond stigmatizing the Pride community, the legislation could be used as pretext for the government to ban protests more generally. A small opposition party, Momentum, along with a nonaffiliated opposition lawmaker have blockaded a bridge in Budapest every Tuesday for the past month, with the latest planned for April 15.
Despite some protests, Peter Magyar, the main opposition leader whose Tisza party leads in the polls, has kept the Pride issue at arm¡¯s length. While voicing support for the right to assembly, he¡¯s said Orban is trying to set a political trap by deflecting attention from a cost-of-living crisis, which voters regularly cite as their most pressing concern.
The constitutional amendment also says that a father is a man and a mother is a woman, furthering Orban¡¯s crusade against people who embrace different forms of sexual identity.
It also allows the potential suspension of Hungarian citizenship for non-EU dual citizens. The ruling party has said it¡¯s aimed at those in civil society or media whom the government deems as a threat to ¡°national sovereignty.¡±
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