Wednesday June 30th 2021
Call for EU answer to Hungary
Seehofer: Orban has gone too far
Just three years ago, Horst Seehofer was clearly defending the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban against his critics. Since then, the relationship has cooled. Seehofer is now criticizing Hungary’s controversial law on dealing with homosexuality and now sees the EU as obliged to act consistently.
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has criticized the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and speaks out in favor of tougher action against Hungary because of the discrimination against homosexuals. “Viktor Orban has gone too far with this law, it violates central values of the European Union,” Seehofer told the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. “We cannot and will not accept that.”
As a consequence, Seehofer calls for a cut in EU funds for Hungary. “I think the cut in EU funding is a way of showing that we are not just watching,” said the CSU politician. “We must resolutely represent European values.” That could happen in different ways. However, Chancellor Angela Merkel has already rejected a demand by the Greens for a rapid cut in EU funding for Hungary and warned against a split in the EU.
The debate was triggered by a law recently passed in Hungary prohibiting alleged advertising of homosexuality. Affected are, among other things, films, books or advertisements that are aimed at minors and depict the life of gays or lesbians as normal. There was harsh criticism of the law from the EU.
Seehofer has long been considered a supporter of the Hungarian head of government in the European People’s Party (EPP), but Orban’s national conservative party Fidesz has left this year. In January 2018, the CSU regional group invited the Hungarian to a retreat in Seeon in Bavaria, where the then Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU boss Seehofer declared that Orban was “undoubtedly on the rule of law”.
Orban has ruled Hungary with Fidesz since 2010. Since then, he has taken increasingly conservative positions and presents himself as a defender of Catholic values against a liberal West.
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