European Parliament appoints Cyrus Engerer as drafter of resolution on Hungary’s breach of EU law

The European Parliament has appointed Maltese Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer to lead negotiations on a resolution which is expected to call on the EU to instigate formal legal procedures against Hungary for breaching European Union 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 the European Parliament plenary session of next week 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 controversial legislation enacting an outright ban on teaching students about gender diversity and sexual orientation.

The Hungarian legislation gained notoriety after the legislation became a defining part of this years UEFA European Football Championship when the football organisation turned down a request to protest against the legislation by lighting up the Munich Stadium in rainbow colours.

The legislation has also been heavily criticised by multiple human rights organsiations across the globe, and by the majority of European Union Prime Ministers who last week signed a letter vowing “to fight discrimination towards the LGBTIQ community” in the face of such dangerous legislation.

‘“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," Engerer said, upon his appointment as the European Parliaments draftsperson.

"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 Engerer has called out Orban for his mistreatment of the LGBTIQ community. In March earlier 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.