Budapest cracks down on Pride events
Hungary's government aims to eliminate LGBT Pride events in the country: its parliament has passed a bill put forward by the ruling Fidesz party that could potentially make LGBT gatherings illegal, identify participants using facial recognition and subject them to fines of up to 500 euros. Commentators see red.
Orbán the standard bearer for regression
Hungary's government is curtailing fundamental human rights, criticises Der Standard:
“For anti-woke culture warriors from Moscow to Washington, identitarians, the FPÖ and AfD, this is another reason to celebrate. ... The Hungarian Pride ban, which will be enforced using facial recognition technology and subject to fines, also sends a signal. ... Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of an EU member state, wants to show his supporters just how many backward steps a country that is a member of the European Union can take. For years, Hungary has ignored European asylum law under his leadership, and now the country has suspended the right of assembly for sexual minorities.”
Looking even further eastwards
The Hungarian government is now also copying the Chinese surveillance state, Népszava criticises:
“Who would have thought that the ruling party Fidesz would abolish one of the cornerstones of democratic systems, namely the right to freedom of assembly, even faster than usual? ... Orbán, the non-eastern dictator, is once again copying a Russian law, but this time he is also looking even further eastwards, to China. The amendment to the assembly law criminalises not only the organisers, but all participants automatically identified by facial recognition systems. This is a purely Chinese trend: in that country an all-encompassing network of surveillance cameras is used to monitor and control ordinary citizens.”
Russia can have Hungary in exchange for Ukraine
Aftonbladet says it's increasingly obvious where Prime Minister Orbán stands - and where he belongs:
“There is much outrage in the EU, but the repression continues. The new Pride law probably also violates the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression, privacy and freedom of assembly. Moscow has also oppressed women and persecuted LGBT and other minorities. In this respect, the Kremlin's policy is very similar to Hungary's. The Hungarian people belong in the EU, but Mr Orbán doesn't. ... Perhaps we should propose a swap, as Donald Trump tends to do. Russia can have Hungary – and the EU gets Ukraine. We could call the swap 'The Art of the Deal'.”