Earlier this month, the Hungarian Parliament passed a law which allows the Government to ban any demonstration at their discretion and authorizing the use of facial recognition software to identify attendees.
This law is an attack targeting Pride parades and LGBTIQ people and it constitutes a direct assault on the fundamental right to peaceful assembly, which is an essential pillar of any democracy.
The use of surveillance technology to monitor citizens at peaceful demonstrations is not only an unjustified invasion of privacy; it is a tactic of intimidation that chills free expression and civic engagement.
In a brave response to the vote, Members of Parliament of our member party Momentum Mozgalom staged a protest by lighting flares inside the National Assembly and making their opposition heard.
For this, they have been collectively fined €180,000 and banned from entering the National Assembly for two months. This is an outrageous punishment that violates their political mandate and the democratic right to represent their voters.
Within the borders of the European Union, human rights cannot and must not be trampled. Democracy cannot thrive when citizens are silenced, surveilled, intimidated or punished for dissent.
This path leads only to authoritarianism, and we will not sit idly by. Momentum Mozgalom members of Parliament must be allowed to return to the National Assembly immediately and their fines must be revoked.
We stand with the people of Hungary in their rightful struggle for freedom of assembly, dignity, and democracy. We remember the cost at which these freedoms were won and we will not let them be lost at the hands of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s populist government. Hungary must ensure that peaceful protest, in whatever form and colour, will not be denied.
Liberals stand united against all threats to democracy, freedom, and human rights.
ALDE Party President Svenja Hahn
ALDE Party Vice-President Lucia Plaváková