BUDAPEST, July 22 (Reuters) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attacked the European Union again on Saturday for carrying out what he called an “LGBTQ offensive”, saying his nationalist government will protect the country’s Christian roots.
In a speech in Romania, Orban – a longtime critic of Brussels – also said he hopes next year’s European Parliament elections will strengthen the bloc’s governments that reject “federalism” represented by Germany and France.
In power since 2010, Orban enacted a law in 2021 banning the use of materials promoting homosexuality and sex change in schools, citing the need to protect children from “LGBTQ propaganda” and thus aggravating a dispute with the EU.
It has also clashed with Brussels over other issues, such as the rule of law and reforms of the Hungarian media and judiciary.
The EU is “an empire or (individual) nations… We should have no illusions: the federalists are trying to drive us out,” Orban said. “In Hungary they openly wanted a change of government (in 2022),” he said, adding that the same is happening in Poland.
Poland will hold parliamentary elections this fall, with the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party seeking a third term. It has adopted many policies that coincide with those of Orban and both countries are embroiled in a dispute over the rule of law with the bloc that has led to the suspension of certain EU funds.
Orban said the balance between federalists and nations reluctant to cede more powers to Brussels was broken when Britain left the bloc and now only Warsaw and Budapest “stick to their (anti-federalist) stance.”
Meanwhile, he has stepped up his anti-LGBTQ rhetoric as Hungary’s economic woes have deepened. Annual inflation exceeded 25% in the first quarter.
“The EU rejects the Christian heritage, carries out a replacement of its population through migration (…) and carries out an LGBTQ offensive,” he said on Saturday.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing in Spanish by Carlos Serrano)
Source: Ambito
