Hungary broke EU law with anti-LGBTQ law, says EU court legal opinion
Any attempt to marginalise a group, the opinion said, crosses “red lines” set by the EU’s values of equality, dignity and human rights.
Budapest violated EU law by banning or restricting LGBTQ content, the EU top court’s advocate general said, backing the Commission’s infringement case against the country.
The non-binding opinion, issued Thursday, concerns Hungary’s 2021 package of legislative amendments prohibiting the sharing of LGBTQ-related information with minors in advertising, media, schools, bookshops, and even within families.
Such opinions are typically influential in guiding the final judgment from the EU Court of Justice, which is expected in autumn 2025.
The Court noted that the law interferes with a number of fundamental rights protected by the EU charter, such as the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, the respect for private and family life, the freedom of expression and information, and the right to human dignity.
This was not just a case of Budapest disagreeing with or diverging from EU values, the opinion stated. Instead, it had “negated several of those fundamental values” and “significantly deviated from the model of a constitutional democracy” laid out in Article 2 of the EU treaties
The opinion comes as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has faced fresh backlash for passing a law banning Pride marches and allowing police to use facial recognition to track participants.
In May, Euractiv first reported that Ursula von der Leyen’s staff had quietly instructed colleagues not to attend Budapest’s Pride in June.
Meanwhile, 17 EU countries – led by the Netherlands – signed a declaration condemning Hungary’s crackdown on its LGBTQ community.
The advocate general also stressed that equal LGBT people respect across the bloc “cannot be subject to debate through dialogue.” Any attempt to marginalise specific groups in society crosses “red lines” set by the EU’s core values, the opinion reads.
CORRECTION: This article has been updated to clarify that it was Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta – not the Court – who stated that the Hungarian law violates the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
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