Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Saturday (22 July) renewed an attack on the European Union for conducting what he called an “LGBTQ offensive”, saying his nationalist government would protect the country’s Christian roots.
During an address to a summer university at Băile Tușnad, a region of Romania with a sizeable Hungarian community, Orbán – a long-standing critic of Brussels – also said he hoped next year’s European parliament elections would strengthen governments within the bloc that reject the “federalism” represented by Germany and France.
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Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met in Romania on Wednesday, although it was not on the Romanian PM’s agenda, and there was no official announcement.
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In power since 2010, Orbán passed a law in 2021 banning the use of materials seen as promoting homosexuality and gender change at schools, citing the need to protect children from “LGBTQ propaganda” and thereby escalating a row with the EU.
He has also clashed with Brussels over other issues including the rule of law, and reforms to Hungary’s media and the judiciary.
The EU is “either an empire or (individual) nations … We should not have any illusions: the federalists are trying to squeeze us out,” Orbán said.
“They openly wanted a change in government (in 2022) in Hungary,” Orbán said, adding that the same was now true of Poland.
Poland holds parliamentary elections this autumn, when the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party will seek a third term. It has adopted many policies that chime with Orbán’s, and both countries are locked in a rule-of-law dispute with the bloc that has led to the suspension of certain EU funds.
Orbán said a balance between federalists and nations unwilling to cede more powers to Brussels was upset when Britain left the bloc, and now only Warsaw and Budapest were “sticking to their (anti-federalist) stance.”
He has meanwhile upped his anti-LGBT rhetoric as Hungary’s economic troubles have escalated. Annual inflation topped 25% in the first quarter.
“The EU rejects Christian heritage, carries out a replacement of its population via migration … and conducts an LGBTQ offensive,” he said on Saturday.
He told his audience: “We have no choice. Even if we like Europe, even at home, we must fight” to defend what he and his supporters regard as traditional Christian values.
Budapest and Brussels have clashed repeatedly over topics including the perceived weakening of the rule of law and Orbán’s tough line against migration.
Last month, EU’s top court ruled that Hungary had failed to fulfil its obligations under the bloc’s law by “unduly hindering” people from seeking asylum.
Budapest risks losing billions in EU cohesion funds over its stance on rule of law and rights issues.
(Edited by Georgi Gotev)
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Source: euractiv.com
