Hungarian lawmakers have overwhelmingly approved constitutional amendments targeting the country’s LGBTQ community and dual citizens, marking the latest move to bolster Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s trademark “illiberal” political system, reports RTE.
Since reclaiming power in 2010, Orban has tightened control over LGBTQ rights, the media, judiciary, and academic institutions.
In mid-March, he pledged to carry out an “Easter cleanup” aimed at his domestic critics, whom he derogatorily referred to as “stink bugs,” reports RTE.
One of the amendments, declaring that individuals can only be male or female, mirrors gender policies championed by Orban’s political ally, former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Another provision introduces the possibility of “temporarily” revoking citizenship from certain dual or multiple nationals, a move critics say could be aimed at Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, a frequent target in nationalist conspiracy theories, reports RTE.
Just before the parliamentary vote — which passed by 140 votes to 21 — several dozen demonstrators blocked an entrance to the parliament building until police forcibly removed them.
“When we chained ourselves up during the constitution’s first revision in 2011, we didn’t imagine we’d be doing it again 14 years later,” said opposition MP Timea Szabo, reports RTE.
Inside the chamber, liberal Momentum party lawmakers displayed a protest banner, while outside, hundreds of demonstrators shouted, “We will not allow ourselves to be transformed into Putin’s Russia.”
Ruby, a 19-year-old transgender woman who withheld her surname, told AFP she attended to stand against a government trying “to erase transgender people” and suppress anything they dislike “just like in Russia,” reports RTE.
In addition to the male-female gender definition, another clause prioritizes children’s rights to “proper physical, mental and moral development” over all other fundamental rights, aside from the right to life.
This clause is widely viewed as reinforcing the legal justification to ban Pride events, reports RTE.
Another key amendment allows authorities to suspend the citizenship of dual or multiple nationals — even those who hold their citizenship by birth.
The ruling party claims the measure is aimed at “speculators” who fund “bogus NGOs, corrupt politicians, and so-called independent media” from abroad, reports RTE.
A supplementary bill, expected to be voted on later, outlines that Hungarian citizenship can be suspended for up to ten years, with those affected potentially expelled from the country.
However, nationals of other EU countries and select European states would be exempt under the proposal, reports RTE.
Over 30 leading Hungarian legal scholars have sharply criticized the measure, describing it as “an unprecedented construction in international law” that may violate binding human rights agreements.
Opponents argue the constitutional changes represent another blow to democratic norms in Hungary, pushing the EU member state closer to the authoritarian model of Russian President Vladimir Putin, reports RTE.
“This could be described as soft Putinism,” said Szabolcs Pek, chief analyst at the Iranytu Intezet think tank.
“People aren’t being thrown out of windows, but the government is steadily reducing the space for opposition politicians, journalists, and civil society,” he added, reports RTE.
Analysts see the new legislation as a political maneuver to reverse declining support for Orban’s ruling coalition, fragment the opposition ideologically, and attract far-right voters ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections.
Orban’s legislative “aggressiveness” is a tactic to shift public debate, said Pek, reports RTE.
“In that regard, he’s succeeded, because now the conversation isn’t about broken public services or economic troubles,” he said, reports RTE.
Orban has been facing growing opposition from Peter Magyar, a former government insider turned rival whose new TISZA party has begun cutting into Fidesz’s longstanding lead, according to recent polls.
Pek noted that the proposed Pride ban poses a strategic dilemma for Magyar: taking a pro-LGBTQ stance could alienate conservative voters, while remaining silent risks pushing liberal and left-wing supporters toward other opposition parties, reports RTE.
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