EU leaders send thinly veiled threat to Hungary over cruel anti-LGBT+ law

As the EU summit begins this week (24 and 25 June), leaders of 17 EU countries have signed a letter hitting out at horrific new anti-LGBT+ legislation in Hungary.

A new law in Hungary which bans the “promotion” of LGBT+ issues in schools and the media was passed by Viktor Orbán’s ruling party Fidesz last week.

In the letter, which does not explicitly mention Hungary but states that it was written “in the light of threats against fundamental rights and in particular the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation”, the leaders vowed to “continue fighting against discrimination towards the LGBT+ community”.

They that 28 June, International LGBT+ Pride Day, “will be a day to remember that we are diverse and tolerant societies, committed to the unhindered development of the personality of each one of our citizens, including their sexual orientation and gender identity”.

The letter was addressed to the presidents of the European Commission, the Portuguese Council presidency and the European Council, and has been signed by Alexander De Croo (Belgium), Mette Frederiksen (Denmark), Angela Merkel (Germany), Kaja Kallas (Estonia), Micheál Martin (Ireland), Kyriakos Mitsotakis (Greece), Pedro Sánchez (Spain), Emmanuel Macron (France), Mario Draghi (Italy), Nicos Anastasiades (Cyprus), Krišjānis Kariņš (Latvia), Xavier Bettel (Luxembourg), Robert Abela (Malta), Mark Rutte (the Netherlands), Sanna Marin (Finland), Stefan Löfven (Sweden) and Sebastian Kurz (Austria).