EP appoints Cyrus Engerer as drafter of resolution on Hungary’s breach of EU law
Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer will lead negotiations on a resolution that is expected to call on the European Union to instigate formal procedures against Hungary for breaching EU law.
Engerer has been tasked to lead a group of MEPs, one from each political group, to come up with the joint resolution to be discussed and voted upon during this week’s European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg.
Hungary’s Fidesz government, lead by ultra nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has been under the spotlight after a series of breaches of EU law and the EU’s core fundamental values. The latest is a controversial legislation enacting an outright ban on teaching students about gender diversity and sexual orientation.
The Hungarian legislation received notoriety after the legislation became a defining part of this year’s UEFA European Football Championship when the football organisation turned down a request to light up the Munich Stadium in Rainbow colours in protest of the legislation.
The legislation has also been heavily criticised by multiple human rights organisations across the globe and by the majority of EU prime ministers who last week signed a letter vowing “to fight discrimination towards the LGBTIQ community” in the face of such dangerous legislation.
Upon his appointment as the EP draftsperson, MEP Engerer said: “We are looking at a momentous resolution, which calls out the Hungarian government under the autocratic rule of hardline nationalist Prime Minister Victor Orban, for their breach of Union law, fundamental rights and the rule of law in Hungary. I will be leading a team of MEPs in negotiations on this resolution, which will indeed be calling on the EU to officially take the strongest action against the Hungarian government in light of their recent legislative attacks on the fundamental human rights of the Hungarian LGBTIQ community.”
This is not the first time MEP Engerer has called out Orban for his mistreatment of the LGBTIQ community. In March of this year, Engerer was praised by British actor Stephen Fry after he clapped back when Orban referred to the LGBTIQ community as “lunatics” in a letter to all MEPs.
“The European Union is no place for the politics of hate. The fact that Orban has introduced a Russian styled homophobic law into the European Union’s own legislative framework must be condemned and punished. All human beings must be protected. LGBTIQ Rights are Human Rights, in Hungary, in Malta, in the EU and all across the world,” Engerer concluded.
Within the LIBE Committee, Engerer has become a leading voice from the group of The Progressives on issues pertaining to the rule of law, the Union’s core values and equality.