Hungary: von der Leyen (Commission), Hungarian bill “is a shame. I will use all the powers of the Commission to ensure that the rights of all are guaranteed”

“The Hungarian bill is a shame. I have instructed my responsible Commissioners to write a letter to the Hungarian authorities expressing our legal concerns before the bill enters into force”, said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, as she answered a question during a press conference with the Belgian Prime Minister to announce the approval of Belgium’s recovery and resilience plan worth €5.9 billion in grants. The legislation passed by the Hungarian Parliament on 16 June 2021 “in order to ensure the protection of children’s rights” prohibits, among other things, that “pornography and content that depicts sexuality for its own purposes or that promotes deviation from gender identity, gender reassignment and homosexuality” be “made available to persons under the age of eighteen”. Today, the President of the Commission said that the bill “clearly discriminates against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and goes against all the fundamental values of the European Union, that is, human dignity, equality and fundamental human rights”. “We will not compromise – she added - on these principles. I will use all the powers of the Commission to ensure that the rights of all EU citizens are guaranteed, whoever you are and wherever you live”. Also thirteen EU countries, including Italy, have signed a joint statement expressing their “deep concerns” about the bill and urging the European Commission to take action.
Valentina Bombelli