Ireland has supported a declaration by the Benelux Countries that expresses grave concern regarding the Hungarian Parliament’s adoption of amendments to a bill that discriminate against the LGBTQI+ community in Hungary.
The Minister of State for European Affairs, Thomas Byrne, T.D. gave Ireland’s support to the declaration at the General Affairs Council Meeting in Luxembourg on 22 June. The Benelux-led declaration criticises Hungary’s unacceptable use of child protection as a pretext for introducing measures that violate freedom of expression as enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and unjustifiably target the LGBTQI+ community in Hungary.
The Minister of State for European Affairs, Thomas Byrne, T.D. said“I wholeheartedly endorse this declaration initiated by the Benelux member states that criticises this most recent anti-LGBTQI+ turn by Hungary. Legislation of the kind recently introduced by the Hungary Assembly has no place in the European Union“