European heavyweight states join EU lawsuit against Orbán’s child protection law

Germany and France join a legal case against Hungary over its child protection legislation. The laws, which experts think are deliberately conflating paedophilia with homosexuality, and have been labelled as “anti-LGBT” have been a hot topic since 2021.

15 EU-member countries and the European Parliament have joined a legal case against Hungary’s child protection laws, Euronews reports. The European Commission referred Hungary to the Court of Justice of the EU last year, as the commission argues that Hungary violates EU values and the fundamental values of individuals.

“We have seen the various press reports. For us it is clear: the Hungarian law violates EU law, fundamental rights, and EU values. We have taken Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union, and it is now up to the Court to decide. We do not wish to comment on the steps of the procedure,” a spokesperson for the European Commission told Népszava.

Western European countries have a clear stance

Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Austria, Ireland, Denmark, Malta, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Slovenia, France, Germany and Greece, together with the European Parliament, will act as third parties in the lawsuit filed last year by the European Commission.

As Népszava writes, the countries’ participation in the case is not legally binding, it only has a “symbolic significance”. The contributor countries can express their support for the position of the plaintiff, in this case, the European Parliament.

The Hungarian law prohibits the depiction of homosexuality and gender reassignment in media content and educational material addressed to audiences under 18 years of age. It has been widely criticised for conflating paedophilia with homosexuality.

Read also: Another EP delegation is coming to Hungary to investigate the use of EU funds

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the Hungarian bill “shameful” in 2021.

“This bill clearly discriminates against people on the basis of their sexual orientation, and it goes against all the fundamental values of the European Union: this is human dignity, it is equality and it’s the human fundamental rights. So, we will not compromise on these principles,” Euronews quotes von der Leyen as saying.

Hungary is not backing down

Despite the international backlash and now the infringement proceedings, the Hungarian government has not changed its stance on the subject.

As we have previously written, the Hungarian government is already working on a new version of the “child protection” laws. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán recently talked about the issue in his State of the Nation address.

“We don’t care that the world has gone mad, we don’t care what repulsive fads some people indulge in. We do not care what Brussels uses to excuse and explain the inexplicable. This is Hungary! And this is where the strictest child protection system in Europe should be!” said the PM.

It is unclear how the Hungarian government could make the law even stricter, while Hungary is already facing an EU court case, and the EU Commission wants Hungary to withdraw the anti-LGBT measures in order to receive the frozen EU funds.