CNN
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At least 70 members of the European Parliament are planning on attending this year’s Pride celebrations in Budapest, Hungary, despite the nation’s ban against LGBTQ gatherings, officials have told CNN.
Earlier this year, Hungarian lawmakers passed new legislation which outlaws Pride events in the country and allows authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those attending any events that go ahead despite the ban.
But officials from at least six groups of the European Parliament are planning on attending Budapest’s annual Pride march anyway, according to a spokesperson for Kim van Sparrentak, the co-president of the European Union’s Intergroup.
The Intergroup describes itself as an “informal forum for Members of the European Parliament (MEPS) who wish to advance and protect the fundamental rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.”
Budapest Pride has remained determined in the face of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government, which has previously said it is outlawing the parade and other LGBTQ gatherings in the country due to “child protection” issues.
Organizers have vowed to hold the event anyway, and have called on “international allies, activists, and friends” to join the Pride parade though Hungary’s capital on June 28.
Van Sparrentak, who is a Dutch MEP from the parliament’s “Greens/European Free Alliance” political group, told CNN that she will be attending Budapest Pride to “support the LGBTIQ+ community in Hungary, to let them know that they are not alone (and) to be visible as a community.”
“Pride is a protest, and if Orbán can ban Budapest Pride without consequences, every pride is one election away from being banned,” she continued.
Marc Angel, the other co-president of Intergroup, told CNN that he is attending Budapest Pride this year to “show solidarity” with LGBTQ Hungarians, as well as “all of civil society,” which he said was “under attack” in Hungary.
Angel said that he will be “defending the right to assemble as a fundamental European right,” adding that he hopes to “show Hungarians who believe in democracy and in Europe that they are not alone.”
On Tuesday, a group of 20 countries in the European Union signed a letter urging Hungary to revise its “anti-LGBTIQ+ legislation,” calling on the European Commission to “expeditiously make full use of the rule of law toolbox at its disposal” if this doesn’t happen.
Angel suggested that some of these mechanisms could include stopping EU funding to Hungary and enacting an infringement procedure against the country for failing to implement EU law.
In Tuesday’s letter, the foreign ministries of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden said that they are “deeply concerned” by Hungary’s recent law changes.
The use of facial recognition software to identify people attending banned events was also condemned, with the countries saying that they “are concerned by the implications of these measures on freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right to privacy.”
“Respecting and protecting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people, including LGBTIQ+ persons, is inherent in being part of the European family. This is our responsibility and shared commitment of the member states and the European institutions,” the letter read.
CNN has reached out to the Hungarian government for comment.
