& Jesse Dimich-Louvet
Published on •Updated
EU Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resilience, Jessika Roswall, says “anyone who wants to join in solidarity with the LGBTQ community in Hungary should do so.”
She was responding to the Hungarian government’s decision to ban Gay Pride parades, a decision that has been heavily condemned by a majority of EU member states including France, Germany and Spain.
“The European Union is built on values, which, of course, we all stand behind, and this is the pressure we are in this union of – one of the key things is built of this precious value of people’s freedom and loving whoever they want to, or rule of law and all these things,” Roswall told Euronews.
“So I stand, of course, behind that and I myself have been to many prides, only in Stockholm though,” she added.
Meanwhile, a European Commission source told Euronews that it’s unlikely EU Commissioners will stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community as it could be seen to “provoke” Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and open the door to him accusing the EU of interfering in Hungarian affairs.
“I think it would play into Orbán’s hands were senior people from Brussels to turn up,” the source said.
The legal position
However, law experts and some member states argue the European Commission is obliged to protect the rights and freedoms of EU citizens under Article 2 of the EU Treaty.
A group of 17 member states led by the Netherlands signed a declaration condemning the Hungarian decision.
We are “concerned by the implications of these measures on freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right to privacy,” part of their statement read.
EU Commissioner of Justice and Rule of Law Michael McGrath has called freedom of assembly a fundamental right that must be protected.
He insisted that Pride marches do not constitute a threat to children, as the Hungarian parliament argued.
Meanwhile, Roswall says she does not want to make decisions for others but says that the issue is at the centre of her beliefs and the values of the 27-member bloc.
“I don’t tell people what to do, but that’s what I truly believe in, and that is also the core of the European Union,” she explained.
The Budapest Pride event is set to take place on 28 June in defiance of the new law, and while several MEPs have indicated their intention to attend, no European Commissioners have.
