Human rights groups challenge Hungary's anti-Pride law in court
BUDAPEST, May 30 (Reuters) - Five human rights groups including Amnesty International challenged in court Hungary's legislation that created a legal basis for police to ban Pride marches by the LGBTQ community, the groups said in a statement on Friday.
Hungary's parliament, where the ruling Fidesz party has a big majority, passed legislation in March that creates a legal basis to ban LGBTQ marches and lets police use facial recognition cameras to identify people who attend.
It also approved constitutional changes in April stipulating that Hungary recognises only two sexes, male and female.
Activists say the measures amount to a de-facto ban on Pride marches. Prime Minister Viktor Orban - whose ruling party has a Christian conservative agenda - has said organisers "should not even bother" organising Pride in Budapest this year.
Orban, who has been in power since 2010, faces elections in 2026 where a new opposition party is mounting a serious challenge to his rule.
Five groups including Amnesty and leading LGBTQ rights groups Hatter Tarsasag and the group that organises Pride, said in their statement that the march planned for June 28 will go ahead in Budapest irrespective of the court ruling, which is expected next week.
"Organisers are preparing for the biggest Pride march Hungary has ever had," their statement said.
Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The groups launched the legal challenge on Thursday after police banned a smaller march planned for June 1. They said when police banned the event, it cited the new legislation, which says assemblies that are considered harmful to children cannot be held, and that protecting children would supersede the right to assemble.
"Police did not provide evidence on why the (June 1) march or the Pride march that is considered similar could amount to a violation of children's rights," the statement said.
On Tuesday, seventeen European Union countries accused Hungary of contravening fundamental EU values by passing laws that target LGBTQ+ people, as tensions deepen between Budapest and a majority of member states.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
17 minutes ago
- The Sun
My two-ingredient solution will banish green algae on fences & stop it coming back for good, it costs less than a fiver
GARDENERS love to take pride in their outside spaces, from growing hundreds of plants to getting the perfect lawn. But green algae growing on garden fences can totally ruin it. 1 Unfortunately, wooden fences are the perfect breeding ground for the stuff. Wooden fences, that are often overshadowed by plants and exposed to weather elements, provide the perfect environment for algae growth. While it can be time-consuming to clean, it doesn't have to be hard. And now a fence expert has shared the perfect solution to getting rid of it and stopping it from coming back. The experts at say you need just two items to banish it. To start, prep the area around your fence by covering plants with plastic to ensure you don't kill any of them. Once you've protected the surrounding area, it's time to mix the solution. The experts state: "Mix one part bleach and two parts warm water. "Before you begin cleaning, make sure you have some rubber gloves handy." Apply the solution to the fence and scrub with a hard brush. I made a DIY fence for £68 with pallets from Facebook Marketplace - it gives more privacy & people say it's 'fantastic' Eventually, the green algae spots will begin to disappear. You can then let the solution sit for up to an hour before rinsing it off. You then want to let the fence completely dry before moving on to the next step of painting the fence. The experts added: "No paints or stains can be applied until the fence is fully dried out, and while it can be helpful to remove some of the excess moisture with deck cloths, it can take between 24 and 48 hours for the wood to reabsorb its natural oils." Gardening tips and hacks How to transform your garden on a cheap budget How to preserve your favourite flowers at home - 5 easy tips explained Which plants should I be wary about my dog being around? When is the best time to prune roses? When should I start planting daffodil bulbs? How high can a garden fence be and can it be taller than my neighbours? What colour of fence paint makes a garden look bigger? Will my garden plants still grow if my backyard doesn't receive any sun? When the fence is completely dry, you can prevent the algae from forming again by applying a fresh coat of waterproof stain and sealant. Be sure to do this when no rain is expected within the following 24 hours. The pros finish: "While a brush is the best method to get in the smaller spaces, you can use a roller or a sprayer, but just be sure to add extra applications to have total coverage. "A coat of sealer will weather-proof it and give you extra coverage for recesses or grooves that may have been missed." You can buy fence sealant from Tool Station for just £7.68 and a bottle of bleach from Tesco for 75p. You don't have to use the whole tub of sealant if you are spot treating the fence, making the hack CST less than a fiver.
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump makes Second World War joke in front of German chancellor
Donald Trump made a Second World War joke about Germany re-arming while meeting the country's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, in the Oval Office on Thursday, 5 June, amid negotiations over tariffs. Mr Merz went into the meeting hoping to keep Western support for Ukraine, make progress on trade, and bolster German military spending. 'I know that you're spending more money on defence now,' the US president began. 'They said never let Germany rearm." Mr Trump added that Germany's rearming is a good thing, "at least to a certain point".
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump scorns Merkel legacy during new German chancellor's White House visit
Donald Trump has heaped criticism on the former German chancellor Angela Merkel for opening up her country to refugees, telling her successor: 'I told her it shouldn't have happened.' During an appearance with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, on Thursday, Trump was asked about the sweeping travel restrictions on 19 countries that he announced the previous day. 'We want to keep bad people out of our country … of course, you have a little problem too with some of the people that were allowed into your country,' Trump said to Merz, in an apparent reference to a number of attacks in Germany involving refugees. Merz replied: 'Yes we do,' before Trump continued: 'It's not your fault …. It shouldn't have happened. I told her it shouldn't have happened, but it did. But you have your own difficulty with that, and we do.' He was referring to Merkel, but did not call her by name. The former chancellor visited the White House in 2017 during Trump's first term of office, when she was given a grilling by Trump over her so-called open-door policy, which allowed around 1 million refugees – mainly from Syria and Iraq – into Germany. Merz's highly anticipated visit had been viewed with trepidationin Berlin, amid fears that the German leader may face another Oval Office ambush, such as those endured by Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa. In the end, all the criticism was levied at Merkel, a former political rival of Merz. Trump also made a dig about Merkel's enthusiasm for the building of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which brought gas from Russia to Europe. During the 35-minute press conference, Merz struggled to get a word in, though as German commentators noted, that was probably to the relief of his advisers, who feared there were a number of issues on which Trump might have pilloried him, from defence spending to immigration. When he did manage to speak, the former corporate lawyer mostly focused on Ukraine and the need to end the conflict, in particular by bringing the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to account. Merz also pushed back several times on Trump's narrative that Ukraine and Russia were equally to blame for the war. 'I'm here, Mr President, to talk to you later on how we could contribute to that goal [to end the war]. We are all looking for measures and for instruments to bring this terrible war to an end,' Merz said. He compared the US role in ending the conflict with the part US troops played in defeating the Nazi dictatorship. He noted that Friday will mark the 81st anniversary of D-day, in which tens of thousands of US troops joined allied troops in invading Normandy. The US, he said, was 'again, in the very strong position to do something' about ending the war. Trump, he said, was the 'key person in the world' who could stop the war 'by putting pressure on Russia'. Trump praised Germany for having agreed to boost its defence spending to 5% of GDP, after years-long demands from Washington for it to do so. Asked by a German journalist whether Berlin was 'doing enough on defence', Trump said: 'I know you're spending more money on defence now. Quite a bit more money. That's a positive.' But to some nervous laughter in the room, he quipped that he was 'not sure if Gen MacArthur would have said it's positive,' a reference to the supreme commander for the allied powers, among whose focuses was postwar demilitarisation. Merz prepared for the visit in part by talking to other leaders who have met Trump in recent months to gather tips about the best way to handle him. Merkel has said that she prepared for her first Trump visit – when he was less well-known as a politician – by reading a 1980s interview with him in Playboy and watching episodes of The Apprentice. Merz was put up for the night in the official government guest house, Blair House, which his advisers said was a signal that the two leaders – who refer to one other by their first names – were on a good footing. Merz presented Trump with a gold-framed birth certificate of his grandfather Friedrich Trump, who emigrated from Germany in 1885, as well as a book titled News from the Land of Freedom – German Immigrants Write Home, which is a collection of letters written by German émigrés in the US to their families back in Germany. 'It is a small present to remind him of his family,' Merz said. He has also invited Trump to Germany to visit his grandfather's home village.
