“We are highly alarmed by these developments,” reads the letter, signed by Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden.
France and Germany have also signed on, an EU diplomat told POLITICO.
A series of Hungarian laws which threaten fines against organizers of and participants in LGBTQ+ events, under the guise of child protection, “run contrary to the fundamental values to human dignity, freedom, equality and respect for human rights as laid down in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union,” the statement reads.
The text doesn’t spell out which measures Brussels should take. The obvious option, though, would be to impose “interim measures” against Hungary, which are tantamount to EU legal injunctions against a government to prevent harm, in this case by ordering Budapest to allow the Pride celebration.
Brussels, which is withholding €18 billion in EU funds from Hungary over rule-of-law violations, has so far balked at further coercive action. Equality Commissioner Hadja Lahbib pushed back on the idea of imposing interim measures during a meeting last week, according to a participant. A failure to implement the measures could then trigger penalties.
Lahbib told the lawmakers she lacked support from her boss, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, for further action.