The Hungarian opposition called on the EU leaders on Wednesday to join the Budapest Pride parade in a show of solidarity after the Hungarian parliament voted to ban it.
Hungary’s parliament fast-tracked the ban that was introduced on Monday. The legislative body that, critics say, has been dominated by the ruling right-wing Fidesz party under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, passed the ban on Tuesday.
Orbán, who claims Pride marches are harmful to children, praised the new law. “We won't let woke ideology endanger our kids,” he said, BBC News reported.
Katalin Cseh, one of the founders of Hungary’s opposition Momentum Movement party, appealed to “European allies” and “leaders of the European Union - ministers, [European Parliament] representatives, politicians,” to join the Budapest Pride Parade scheduled for June 28 in a show of support for the banned event.
“Solidarity is the answer to oppression. When the government wants to silence minorities, we have to stand up even louder!” Cseh wrote in a Facebook post.
She said that the Tuesday change to the law on public assemblies , which she says was “accepted under scandalous circumstances,” not only bans the organization of the parade but also encroaches on civic freedoms, particularly its provisions allowing the police to use facial recognition software.
She wrote: “This isn’t ‘just’ another attack on the LGBTQ community - it’s a frontal attack on our freedoms, our rights and the values of democratic Europe as a whole.
“This is a much more serious matter than banning a march: if we let the government watch our every move, tomorrow anyone who is brave enough to stand up for the truth could be punished.”
The new law also allows the police to use facial recognition technology, which the police could use to establish the identity of the event’s organizers and participants.
Participation in the parade may result in a fine between 6,500 and 200,000 forints (between €16 and €5,000), with no community sentence option as an alternative.
Orbán, who claims Pride marches are harmful to children, praised the new law. “We won't let woke ideology endanger our kids,” he said, BBC News reported.
Katalin Cseh, one of the founders of Hungary’s opposition Momentum Movement party, appealed to “European allies” and “leaders of the European Union - ministers, [European Parliament] representatives, politicians,” to join the Budapest Pride Parade scheduled for June 28 in a show of support for the banned event.
“Solidarity is the answer to oppression. When the government wants to silence minorities, we have to stand up even louder!” Cseh wrote in a Facebook post.
She said that the Tuesday change to the law on public assemblies , which she says was “accepted under scandalous circumstances,” not only bans the organization of the parade but also encroaches on civic freedoms, particularly its provisions allowing the police to use facial recognition software.
She wrote: “This isn’t ‘just’ another attack on the LGBTQ community - it’s a frontal attack on our freedoms, our rights and the values of democratic Europe as a whole.
“This is a much more serious matter than banning a march: if we let the government watch our every move, tomorrow anyone who is brave enough to stand up for the truth could be punished.”
The new law also allows the police to use facial recognition technology, which the police could use to establish the identity of the event’s organizers and participants.
Participation in the parade may result in a fine between 6,500 and 200,000 forints (between €16 and €5,000), with no community sentence option as an alternative.
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