PM Office: Hungary committed to child protection

The Hungarian government remains committed to European Union law, the Hungarian constitution and child protection, the prime minister’s chief of staff told a regular press briefing on Wednesday.

Commenting on Wednesday’s European Parliament plenary debate on Hungary’s new child protection law, Gergely Gulyás said the government was open to an objective debate in the matter.

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However, it rejects the EP’s decision to put a politician “who has been sentenced in a binding ruling for gay revenge porn offences” in charge of the case, he said, referring to reports that Maltese MEP Cyrus Engerer, who has been tasked with drafting a resolution on the law, was found guilty in 2014 of circulating pornographic recordings of his former partner online without his consent.

Hungary will resist the push by Brussels to get the country to allow LGBTQ activists into kindergartens and schools, Gulyás said, adding that child protection was “the most important cause”.

He added that besides the Hungarian constitution, the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights also declares that raising children is the duty of the parents.

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“Brussels can’t tell people how they should raise their children,” Gulyás said.

The Hungarian government’s arguments concerning the law are “obvious and clear” and in line with EU law and the Hungarian constitution, “but they’re not in line with the appalling, baseless and deceitful attacks” launched by the EP, Gulyás said.

“Hate speech is forbidden even against Hungary, and it’s all the more damaging that certain Hungarian MEPs are engaging in it too,” he said. Having certain “European bureaucrats” use EU law for “everyday political battles” is also harmful to the future of the bloc, he added.

Gulyás said a government decree on child protection issued on Tuesday had already reflected on Wednesday’s EP debate.

On another subject, Gulyás said the government has been in talks with Brussels on the EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund for months, dismissing reports that said otherwise as “fake news”. He added, however, that the European Commission had recently formulated “absurd demands” concerning matters that were already settled.

“But reports that Brussels has rejected Hungary’s plan or that talks have been halted are fake news,” he added. The talks are going well, he said, and expressed hope that Hungary’s recovery plan will be approved.

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Source: MTI