Hungary passes constitutional amendment to limit rights of dual nationals, ban LGBTQ events

Hungary’s parliament has passed an amendment to the constitution that allows the government to ban public events by LGBTQ+ communities and limit the rights of dual nationals. The amendment, which required a two-thirds vote, passed along party lines with 140 votes for and 21 against. It was proposed by the ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. 

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What does the Amendment states?

The amendment declares that people can only be “male or female”- similar to the executive order signed by US President Donald Trump. It says that children’s rights to moral, physical and spiritual development supersede any right other than the right to life, including that to peacefully assemble. Notably, Hungary’s contentious “child protection” legislation prohibits the “depiction or promotion” of homosexuality to minors aged under 18.

The amendment codifies a law fast-tracked through parliament in March that bans public events held by LGBTQ+ communities, including the popular Pride event in Budapest that draws thousands annually. The law also allows authorities to use facial recognition tools to identify people who attend prohibited events and can come with fines of up to 200,000 Hungarian forints ($546).

It also allows the “temporary” stripping of citizenship from some dual or multiple nationals. Scholars and critics say this could target Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros.

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Opposition accuses government of “dismantling democracy”

Ahead of the vote, opposition politicians and other protesters attempted to blockade the entrance to a parliament parking garage. Police physically removed demonstrators, who had used zip ties to bind themselves together. Dávid Bedő, a lawmaker with the opposition Momentum party who participated in the attempted blockade, said that for the past 15 years, Orbán has been “dismantling democracy and the rule of law, and in the past two or three months, we see that this process has been sped up.” He said as elections approach in 2026 and Orbán’s party lags in the polls behind a popular new challenger from the opposition, “they will do everything in their power to stay in power.”

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Critics have said that the proposed legal changes erode democratic rights in the central European country, moving the EU member state even closer to the kind of authoritarianism seen under Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. “You could consider this soft Putinism,” Szabolcs Pek, chief analyst at the think tank Iranytu Intezet, told AFP.

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(With inputs from agencies)