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The Journal
8 hours ago
- Politics
- The Journal
Irish politicians to attend Budapest Pride as Hungary threatens participants with fines
Lauren Boland Lauren Boland reports from Budapest SEVERAL IRISH POLITICIANS are travelling to Budapest to take part in the city's Pride in a show of solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community amid an attempted ban by Hungarian authorities. Green Party TD Roderic O'Gorman, Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh and Fianna Fáil MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurcú are due to attend the march tomorrow along with dozens of other politicians from around Europe. Pride parades have been held in Budapest for 30 years, but this year, prime minister Viktor Orbán and his right-wing government have sought to quash the event. The government and police are using laws that limit visibility of LGBTQ+ related content and new legislation that restricts freedom of assembly to try to prevent celebrations of Pride by threatening fines or imprisonment for participants and organisers. The city's mayor, a left-wing politician, said he would host the parade as a municipal event and argued that would get around the restrictions – but the authorities have insisted that attendees could face legal repercussions. Orbán told state radio today that there will be 'legal consequences' and that the police have the authority to 'break up such events', but that Hungary is a 'civilised country' and 'we don't hurt each other'. Police have been given powers to use facial recognition software to identify people who attend the parade, which could carry a fine of up to €500, while organisers could be sentenced to a year imprisonment. Speaking to The Journal , O'Gorman said he felt it was important to take a stand as the government has been 'chipping away' at LGBTQ+ rights in recent years and that the banning of the Pride is a 'major escalation in those attacks'. Advertisement The TD said that Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris should summon the Hungarian ambassador and communicate Ireland's 'deep, deep concern with the measures that have been taking place, and how they are an erosion of basic freedoms today for the LGBT+ community'. If they get away with this, who knows what freedoms they'll look to attack tomorrow. 'I'll be missing my first Pride in Dublin for about 20 years, but I think it was important to stand with the LGBT+ groups in Budapest,' O'Gorman said. 'I hope the day goes off peacefully, and I hope that there'll be a big attendance. I expect there will be, because I think it has galvanised a lot of Hungarians in terms of an obvious attempt by the government to distract from the poor state of the Hungarian economy at the moment.' Counter-demonstrations that oppose LGBTQ+ rights are also planned for tomorrow and have not faced pushback from authorities. O'Gorman said that Pride organisers have cautioned participants 'not to engage' with far-right groups at the counter-protests. 'We've also been told what happens if tear gas is released or if there is violence. The organisers are planning for worst case scenarios, but I think everyone hopes that it will go off peacefully.' MEP Maria Walsh, along with other MEPs from EU countries attending the march, received a safety briefing in the European Parliament. 'Carrying ID, making sure we don't connect to WiFi, making sure we travel in groups of people and not as individuals, and as soin as the Pride protest is done, all forms of rainbow colours and any protest gear has to be removed,' Walsh told The Journal . 'That is out respect for making sure community members are safe and sound, which is vastly different to the privilege we experience in Ireland.' Walsh described a 'roll back' on human rights in Hungary over the last few years, both for the LGBTQ+ community and for women and people of colour, as well as a weakening of adherence to rule of law. Related Reads Hungary is setting 'political trap' for EU with Pride ban, says Leo Varadkar Budapest mayor threatened with imprisonment as he defies police to host Pride parade 'I attended Pride in Hungary a number of years ago, and I remember speaking to media outlets at that point and saying there was maybe two or three LGBTI flags in windows, and then outside of that, you wouldn't know there was a public assembly of pride,' she said. 'In comparison to what we had in Mayo a couple of weeks ago, what people in Dublin will see this weekend – Pride is is still very much a protest in Hungary.' She said that Ireland must not be 'complacent' about protecting human rights in the face of a rise of far-right ideology. 'It's not just online anymore. They very much have bled into the offline and the physical space, and it is an incredible worry.' MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú is also part of the contingent of MEPs due to take part in the parade. In a statement, she said the ban was a 'blatant attack on our civil liberties within the European Union'. 'Can you imagine the 18 year old gay or lesbian young person in Hungary watching this unfold on the news? They will be scared, uncertain and afraid to come out,' she said. 'This isn't Russia, this is the EU, where we believe in diversity and equality.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Journal
a day ago
- Politics
- The Journal
Budapest mayor threatened with imprisonment as he defies police to host Pride parade
Lauren Boland Lauren Boland reports from Budapest THE MAYOR OF Budapest is defying the city's police and the Hungarian government to host a Pride parade this weekend in the face of mounting efforts to push Hungary's LGBTQ+ community to the sidelines of society. Gergely Karácsony, the city's left-wing mayor, has said he has been threatened with imprisonment for his organising of Pride – but he said the threat is an 'honour' for him as he fights to protect LGBTQ+ rights in a hostile political environment. He called for Hungary to establish a new constitution that protects human dignity and the human rights of vulnerable minority groups. It comes as EU Rule of Law and Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath confirms the EU has written to Hungarian authorities regarding its plans for extensive use of facial recognition as Hungary tries to quash the right to protest. The Hungarian government introduced strict new legislation this year curbing freedom of assembly, which, layered on top of previous laws that penalise visibility of LGBTQ+ related content, enabled its targeting of Pride parades. Budapest's police force ordered the Pride parade planned for this Saturday not to go ahead. In response, Karácsony, as the city's mayor, said he will host it as a municipal event, which he argued would fall outside the scope of the restrictions – but authorities are still insisting the event is banned. 'There has been months of debate over the legality of the event, but let's face it = that's getting boring, and it is unnecessary. We cannot ban freedom,' said Karácsony, speaking in Hungarian at a conference this morning with an English translator. 'The protection of human rights and respect for dignity are the foundations on which every just society is built. The law should protect that dignity… but dignity transcends the law. The protection of human dignity is a moral imperative,' the mayor said. Advertisement A Pride parade in Budapest in 2021 Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Hungary has some of the most repressive laws in Europe at the moment with regard to the LGBTQ+ community. In 2021, it passed a bill that banned communicating with children and teenagers about sexual orientations and gender identities, both in media like movies or books and in educational settings. The law has had far-reaching consequences and has been condemned by civil society in Hungary and internationally. A recent legal option from the EU Court of Justice said that Hungary is infringing on the treaty that sets out the EU's fundamental principles of human dignity and equality, and that it has significantly deviated from the model of a constitutional democracy. 'We cannot go on like this,' the mayor of Budapest said this morning. 'There are now thousands of signs that we cannot go on like this and that Hungary is on the verge of change,' he said. 'Liberal democracy was our answer for how to form society in which human dignity including right to self-determination is upheld Democracy is being challenged by powerful political actors worldwide. 'The ongoing debate and struggle over this issue will have a decisive issue on western civilisation and humanity as a whole.' Karácsony said the country 'needs a new constitution' and that the current constitution 'protects the powerful instead of protecting people from the powerful'. 'We are standing up for our principles, and our principles must be more important than power,' he said. 'We must restore equality of life and the rule of law and create a constitution with the right to sustainability and to housing but also full equality of rights to same-sex couples and minorities in Hungary.' The mayor was speaking at the International Human Rights Conference in the Central European University in Budapest. Ireland's former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is also due to speak at the conference later today. Related Reads Varadkar to speak at Budapest LGBTQ+ event ahead of city's 'banned' Pride march Hungary's infamous ban on LGBTQ+ content deemed to be violation of EU law Meanwhile, European Rule of Law and Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath told The Journal in Brussels yesterday about the EU's initiation of infringement proceedings against Hungary over the anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. The EU Commission is currently awaiting a formal judgement by the European Court of Justice on the Hungary case. McGrath said that the Court of Justice has sided with the Commission in every instance of alleged EU law infringement in Hungary to date. 'On this new law, which provides for the ban of certain gatherings or the potential to ban certain gatherings, we have written to the Hungarian authorities in relation to the use of facial recognition and data privacy issues that arise,' McGrath said. 'We await the response from them, and we will then evaluate that response and decide what action is open to the commission to take,' he said. Asked about the length of the process, given that European citizens' rights are at risk, McGrath said due process must be followed to ensure that the Commission has the legal right to intervene. 'We have to ensure that there is a solid, legal basis to any action that we take. The Commission has a 100% success rate with the actions it's taken with Hungary – it's important that we continue with that success before the courts,' he said. 'That legal analysis is something I have to respect. That process is still ongoing.' Additional reporting by Muiris O'Cearbhaill in Brussels Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
