A number of MEPs are heading to Budapest to attend the banned Gay Pride march set to take place on 28 June — as pressure mounts for the EU to strip Hungary of its voting rights.
The announcements on Wednesday (18 June) by left-leaning senior European lawmakers follows a decision earlier in the year by Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban to use facial-recognition cameras to help identify and slap €500 fines on anyone who attends the pride march.
"We will march with you in Budapest, side-by-side, proud and loud," Iratxe García Perez, the Spanish MEP who leads the Socialist and Democrats (S&D) group, told the Strasbourg plenary.
García Perez said EU commissioners also need to attend, in comments directed at Michael McGrath, the EU's justice commissioner.
The liberal Renew Europe made similar demands. Taking the floor of the plenary on Strasbourg on Wednesday, Fabienne Keller MEP said her group will attend the march, along with other socialists, greens and the left.
The centre-right EPP also spoke out against Hungary, describing Orban's ban as a desperate attempt "to silence dissent and ensure he and his corrupt inner circle can cling to power."
Daniel Freund, a German MEP with the Greens and often at loggerheads with the Hungarian government, said Orban had surrounded himself with an all-male cabinet.
"Apparently that environment leads you to such sexual insecurity that you need to ban the Pride," he said, accusing Orban of launching a culture war to hide corruption.
The commission is withholding some €18bn of EU funding, due, in part, to corruption in the country. The docked funds are meant to pressure Hungary into rule of law reforms.
But Kinga Gál, a Hungarian MEP and vice-president of the far-right Patriots for Europe, described the attacks on Hungary as hysteria.
"We hear that about 70 MEPs will be attending [Budapest gay pride march]," she told reporters in Strasbourg.
However, the show of support from within her own ranks at the Patriots for Europe also appears to be on shaky ground.
"Social issues are up to different societies to determine. So we have areas of agreement and convergence," said Jordan Bardella, a French MEP and Patriots for Europe president.
"I wouldn't be planning to ban such a march in Paris, for example," he said.
Political optics aside, the Hungarian ban is rooted in an amendment that allegedly seeks to protect children's rights.
The amendment, which entered into force on 15 April, also allows police to ban public demonstrations that breach the so-called children protection law. The commission says they are analysing the new Hungarian law and possible implications under EU law.
"The commission is also examining the provisions of the law related to the use of facial recognition to identify those participating in the prohibited demonstrations," said McGrath.
But MEPs from across most of the political spectrum are also demanding the EU impose article 7, which could lead to suspension of Hungary's voting rights.
The procedure, first launched seven years ago, has yet to produce any meaningful pressure on Hungary.
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Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.
Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.