Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday (27) that there will be “legal consequences” for those who organize or participate in a LGBTQia+ Budapest Pride Parade, in violation of the police prohibition of the event planned for this weekend.
The Hungarian Parliament, in which Orbán’s right -wing party, FIDESZ, has a large majority, approved March legislation that created a legal basis for, with the argument that the protection of children would supplant the right to reunion. The measure also allows the police to use facial recognition cameras to identify people who participate and impose fines.
Critics see as part of a broader repression of democratic freedoms before next year’s overall elections, when he will face a strong opposition opponent, which, according to some recent opinion polls, is ahead.
“We are adults and I recommend that everyone decides what they want, respect the rules … And if they do not, they must face the clear legal consequences,” Orbán told state radio.
He said police can disperse a forbidden event, but Hungary is a “civilized country” and the police task is to convince people to follow the law.
“We are in the world not to make others’ lives harder, but easier, this is the essence of Christianity,” he said.
United Kingdom, France, Germany and 30 other countries expressed support on Monday (23) to the Pride March on June 28, which should go ahead after Budapest’s progressive mayor said the city would organize the march as a municipal celebration of freedom.
He asked the Hungarian authorities to allow the Pride March – a measure that Orbán compared, in his radio interview, to receive orders from Moscow at the time of communism.
“Like Moscow, she considers Hungary as a subordinate country and thinks she can give the Hungarians orders from Brussels about how to live, what to like and what not to like,” Orbán said.
It promotes a strongly conservative Christian agenda and approved several laws that affect the lives of LGBTQia+ people in the last decade.
