Justice Minister Judit Varga has called the resolution adopted by the European Parliament on the rights of the LGBTQ community to same-sex marriage and a registered partnership “a completely unfounded political resolution”.
The MEPs adopted the proposal with 387 votes in favor, 161 against, and 123 abstentions on the rights of LGBTQI people in the EU. The document underlines that Europeans should be able to exercise their full range of rights, including the right to free movement, in all parts of the EU. This means that marriage or registered partnership contracted in one Member State should be recognized in the same way in all other Member States and that same-sex spouses or partners should be treated in the same way as opposite-sex couples.
The statement also refers to a 2018 European Court of Justice ruling that the rules on married and cohabiting couples in the Free Movement Directive also apply to same-sex couples. They point out that in Romania, for example, this is not the case, and that the European Commission should take legal action against this.
The resolution urges member states to recognize the adults mentioned in the birth certificate as the child’s legal parents. MEPs say that rainbow families should have the same rights as heterosexual couples in family reunification. Families should be treated in the same way across the EU to prevent children of families moving between the Member States from becoming stateless.
MEPs note that in Hungary and Poland, the LGBTQI community is discriminated against. The Parliament calls for further EU action (infringement procedures, judicial measures, and budgetary tools) against these countries.
Among Hungarian MEPs, the opposition (MSZP, DK, Momentum) supported the statement, while Fidesz and KDNP politicians opposed it, and Márton Gyöngyösi (Jobbik) abstained.
In her English-language comments published on Facebook on Tuesday evening, Judit Varga said: “It seems like they don’t give up. It still hurts the EP that Hungary, thanks to its Child Protection Act, does not let any sexual propaganda into our educational institutions, schools and kindergartens. They are frustrated because we resist their pressure and the LGBTQ lobby”.
She reiterated the Hungarian government’s position that raising children remains the sole responsibility of parents, and this concept is enshrined in Article 14 of the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights.
“With the resolution voted by the European Parliament today, they want to tell what shall we consider as a marriage, a family and child-parent relationship. Again, they want to instruct us from above on issues that fall within national competence. It is only icing on the cake that the EP once again points at the Article 7 procedure,” Varga said.
She cited Hungary’s basic law which states that “the inviolable and inalienable fundamental rights of man must be respected”, adding that it is the primary duty of the state to protect these rights.
Varga said Hungary protects human rights at the highest possible level, “which is why this political hysteria in the European Parliament is meaningless”. “Facts justify us,” she said.
“In Hungary, adults are free to live in the way they want, according to their own will and beliefs. However, parents have the exclusive right to determine how their children shall be raised. We are not going to give up on that!,” the justice minister said.
Featured photo via Judit Varga’s Facebook page