Referendum on child protection to be held late 2021, early 2022 – UPDATE

The referendum on child protection will be held at the end of 2021 or early 2022, and is expected to strengthen Hungary’s position, the prime minister’s chief of staff told a regular press briefing on Thursday.

Gergely Gulyás said the prime minister had announced the five-question referendum on child protection in response to the events of the past weeks, which the government saw as an “attack from Brussels”.

If the referendum will be valid, the regulations will have to stay in force for three years, Gulyas said in response to a question. The government will specify the reinforced laws at a later date, and will announce whether further legislation has become necessary, he said.

Gulyás said there were, to his knowledge, no cases where gender reassignment surgery was promoted for minors in Hungary, and said the amendment was designed to prevent such cases.

The issue is a “fight the whole of central Europe is engaged in, where we have to show that the region’s culture, values and identity are as much a part of the EU as that of Western Europe,”

Gulyás said. A successful EU is “unimaginable” in the long term without their coexistence, he said.

Concerning the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund, Gulyás said an agreement had already been reached, but Brussels “re-opened” the issue after Hungary passed its child protection law, followed by continued “political accusations” and a media campaign launched against the country.

Citing Hungary’s constitution, Gulyás said “human dignity is inviolable.” It is the state’s constitutional obligation to perform the tasks of child protection, he said.

A referendum probing Hungarians’ view on migration in 2016 contributed to the government’s success in stopping the EU from forcing mandatory resettlement quotas on Hungary, Gulyás insisted.

A clear stance of Hungarians is the only tool in the government’s hands against the current infringement procedure, he said. It will help the government to create child protection measures in line with the citizens’ preferences, he said.

Hungary continues to strive for “loyal cooperation” with the EU, Gulyás said. “Hopefully, the European Commission’s head will be able to keep its institution in order,” he added. “It is particularly conflicting to see the Czech commissioner talk about corruption, as he himself had been in prison for graft,” he said.

The government is continuing the talks on the use of the EU’s recovery fund, but will also allocate monies from the budget and announce tenders “to make sure that Hungarian voters feel the EU funding is secondary” to economic recovery, he said. EU funds are regularly pre-financed, and the government will continue that practice, he said.

It is in Hungary’s interest to stay in the EU, but it will maintain its right to influence the “club’s rules” and to decide on issues that lie within member state competencies, he said.

Regarding the spread of the coronavirus, Gulyás noted that tests by the National Public Health Centre (NNK) have shown the presence of the Delta variant in 14 new cases and the Gamma variant in one new case. Altogether 23 people have tested positive with the Delta variant in Hungary and two with the Gamma variant so far, he said.

Most experts agree that the Delta variant is spreading at a much faster pace than any other variants detected earlier, Gulyás said.

Gulyás emphasised the importance of vaccination, insisting that it is the sole tool of protection against any variant of the virus.

“Only a country where the number of vaccinations is very high will become protected,” he said, asking Hungarians who are yet to receive a vaccine to register for inoculation.

Booster shots will be available from August 1, to be administered at least 4 months after the second shot unless the doctor advises otherwise, he said.

It is imperative that public trust in the vaccine is maintained, he said.

Read alsoOrbán: Government initiates child protection referendum – UPDATED

Source: MTI