At its meeting on Wednesday, the Budapest Parliament did not put the proposals related to the Pride parade and the protection of the right of assembly on the agenda.
The Satirical Party of the Two-Tailed Dog (MKKP) and the left-wing Párbeszéd had submitted corresponding proposals, but did not receive the necessary majority to put them on the agenda. Fidesz-KDNP, DK, MKKP and Párbeszéd supported this, Mayor Gergely Karácsony abstained, the 14 MPs from MSZP, Podmaniczky Movement and Tisza Party did not vote.
Are we facing a Russian scenario?
Krisztina Baranyi, mayor of Ferencváros and member of the Budapest MKKP parliamentary group, emphasised that the toughest action should be taken against the ban on Pride. Freedom of the press and the war in Ukraine are not communication traps, but the defining political conflicts of our time. ‘Our task is not to avoid these debates, but to lead them.’ Pride has been banned in Moscow for 19 years, and the last parts of the free Russian press and NGOs were dismantled three years ago at the start of the war against Ukraine – is this also a scenario for Hungary?
Fidesz attacks fundamental freedoms
Párbeszéd parliamentary group leader Richárd Barabás pointed out that the citizens of Budapest are in favour of Pride, which is why they demonstrated on Tuesday. In his opinion, ‘what is happening in Hungary today is no longer simply about the LGBTQ community or Pride, the governing parties are threatening fundamental freedoms’.
According to Dávid Molnár (Tisza), the purpose of the amendment to the Basic Law is to build a surveillance state, everything else is just a provocation to divide citizens. His party does not support the debate on the proposals, because that is exactly what Fidesz wants, just to avoid having to talk about what is actually happening in the country, namely that the end of their power could be near in a few months.
Pride – a mockery of the family
Gergely Kristóf Gulyás (Fidesz-KDNP) described Pride as a political movement ‘which is about mocking the family and exerting ideological pressure, which the left is trying to package as a political spectacle’. He sees the amendment to the Basic Law as forward-looking, as the protection of children is a national concern and stands above all else.
