The AP Interview: Hungary committed to contentious LGBT law

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CAMEROON – The right-wing populist authorities successful Hungary is attracting blimpish thinkers from the United States who respect its approaches to migration, LGBT issues and nationalist sovereignty — each matters that person enactment the state astatine likelihood with its European partners, who spot not a blimpish haven but a worrying erosion of antiauthoritarian institutions connected aggregate fronts.

Hungary's apical diplomat has a fewer things to accidental astir that.

In an interrogation Thursday with The Associated Press connected the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly's gathering of satellite leaders, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said his state would not cede crushed connected policies that person caused the European Union to enforce fiscal penalties and commencement ineligible proceedings against it implicit violations of the bloc's values.

“We bash not compromise connected these issues due to the fact that we are a sovereign country, a sovereign nation. And nary one, not adjacent the European Commission, should blackmail america regarding these policies,” Szijjarto said.

Topping the database of contentious authorities policies: a arguable Hungarian instrumentality that the EU says violates the cardinal rights of LGBT people. That led the EU's enforcement committee to hold billions successful economical betterment funds earmarked for Hungary — a determination Szijjarto called “a purely governmental decision” and “blackmail." The law, helium says, is meant to support children from pedophiles and ”homosexual propaganda."

“We volition not marque make compromises astir the aboriginal of our children,” Szijjarto told the AP.

The law, passed successful June, makes it amerciable to beforehand oregon represent enactment reassignment oregon homosexuality to minors nether 18 successful media content. It besides contains provisions that supply harsher penalties for pedophilia. Critics accidental it conflates pedophilia with homosexuality and stigmatizes intersexual minorities.

The measures were rejected emphatically by astir European leaders. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte suggested Hungary's right-wing premier minister, Viktor Orban, should propulsion his state retired of the EU if helium is unwilling to abide by its corporate principles.

The struggle is lone the latest successful a protracted combat with the bloc implicit what it sees arsenic a sustained battle connected antiauthoritarian standards successful Hungary — alleged corruption, a consolidation of the media and expanding governmental power implicit authorities institutions and the judiciary.

Last year, the EU adopted a regularisation that links the outgo of funds to its subordinate states’ compliance with rule-of-law standards — a measurement fiercely opposed by Hungary’s government, which argued it was a means to punish countries that interruption with the wide statement of Western Europe's countries.

The EU's concerns implicit Hungary straying from antiauthoritarian values person gone unheard by respective salient American conservatives who person precocious visited the state and extolled Orban’s hardline policies connected migration and flouting of the EU’s rules. On Thursday, Hungary hosted erstwhile U.S. Vice President Mike Pence astatine a league successful Budapest dedicated to household values and demography, some issues that signifier a cardinal pillar of Hungary's blimpish policy.

“One attack (to colonisation decline) says that we should foster migratory flows toward Europe. This is an attack which we don't like," Szijjarto said.

In summation to steadfast absorption to immigration, Hungary's authorities emphasizes accepted household values and absorption to the widening acceptance of intersexual minorities successful Western countries. It besides portrays itself arsenic a beacon of “Christian democracy,” and a bulwark against migration from Muslim-majority countries — positions connected which it finds communal origin with the erstwhile vice president.

“We cognize that Vice President Pence is precise committed to this contented ... with a beardown Christian background, truthful that is the crushed we invited him," Szijjarto said.

Despite Hungary's presumption connected immigration, it did evacuate much than 400 Afghan citizens who had assisted Hungarian forces successful Afghanistan aft that country's authorities fell to the militant Taliban past month. But Szijjarto said his state was “not going to instrumentality immoderate much Afghans,” and that nary refugees would beryllium allowed to transverse Hungary's confederate borderline into the EU.

“We volition not let anybody to travel illegally to Europe,” helium told the AP.

Pence's sojourn to Hungary was lone the latest successful a bid of anti-immigration right-wing Americans visiting Hungary, which its authorities progressively portrays arsenic a bastion of blimpish values.

Tucker Carlson, the astir fashionable big connected the right-wing Fox News Channel, spent a week broadcasting from Budapest successful August. While there, helium heaped praise connected Orban’s attack to immigration, household values and nationalist sovereignty. Carlson besides made a sojourn by chopper to circuit a fortified obstruction on the country’s confederate border.

On Wednesday, the Hungarian authorities quality bureau reported that Budapest would big adjacent year's Conservative Political Action Conference oregon CPAC, an yearly gathering of chiefly U.S. blimpish activists and politicians.

Hungary's government, Szijjarto said, is "happy erstwhile American commentators travel to Hungary. We are blessed due to the fact that erstwhile they come, they volition spot the reality.”

“United States property oregon media outlets usually qualify america arsenic a dictatorship, arsenic a spot wherever it's atrocious to stay, and they constitute each kinds of fake quality astir Hungary," helium said. “But erstwhile these commentators travel over, they tin beryllium confronted with the reality.”

But portion immoderate of Hungary's admirers spot it arsenic a beacon, the EU's fiscal unit — designed to alteration Budapest's behaviour — represents expanding pushback from the different broadside of the governmental spectrum.

Last week, Hungary sold respective cardinal dollars successful overseas currency bonds successful an effort to screen the costs of planned improvement projects adjacent if EU betterment funds are not released. This, on with economical growth, means Hungary's fund is “in beauteous bully shape,” Szijjarto said, allowing for flexibility with the country's cardinal fund without the request for EU funds.

“Hungarian radical should not beryllium acrophobic of immoderate benignant of nonaccomplishment suffered due to the fact that of this governmental determination by the European Commission,” Szijjarto said.

With nationalist elections adjacent outpouring expected to beryllium the biggest situation to Orban’s powerfulness since helium was elected successful 2010, Hungary’s authorities is ramping up connected divisive issues similar migration, LGBT rights and the COVID-19 pandemic that tin mobilize its blimpish voting base.

On Thursday night, successful his code earlier satellite leaders astatine the United Nations, Szijjarto drew parallels betwixt migration and the pandemic, saying the 2 unneurotic formed a “vicious circle” successful which the wellness and economical impacts of the virus's dispersed would pb much radical to “hit the road.”

“The much radical that are progressive successful the migratory flows, the much accelerated the microorganism volition spread,” helium told the U.N. assembly. “So nowadays, migration does not lone represent the already well-known cultural, civilizational oregon security-related risks, but precise superior wellness attraction risks arsenic well.”

Hungary's instrumentality affecting LGBT radical volition beryllium accompanied by a nationalist referendum up of elections connected the availability of gender-change procedures to children and connected intersexual acquisition successful schools. Szijjarto said the referendum volition supply “strong argumentation successful the debates” with the EU implicit the law, and a mandate from voters for the authorities to clasp beardown connected its policies.

“The champion munition a authorities tin person during specified a debate," the curate said, “is the wide look of the volition of the people."

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Justin Spike, based successful Budapest, covers Hungary for The Associated Press. He is connected duty this week astatine the United Nations. Follow him connected Twitter astatine http://twitter.com/jspikebudapest

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