Polish embassy didn’t sign letter of support for Budapest Pride parade

The Polish Embassy in Hungary did not sign a letter of support for Saturday’s Budapest Pride parade, making Poland one of five countries from across the EU that did not express support for Hungary’s LGBTQI+ community.

On Saturday, thousands of people marched through the streets of Budapest. The event took extra significance this year as participants were protesting against the law, passed by the Hungarian government a few weeks ago, which prohibits the ‘promotion of homosexuality’.

Thousands march for LGBTQ rights in Budapest's biggest Pride

Thousands of Hungarians marched in Budapest’s biggest Pride parade on Saturday (24 July), amid tension sparked by a series of anti-gay steps by prime minister Viktor Orbán.

A number of countries also expressed their support for the march and opposition to the new law, with some 30 embassies signing the document, among them 20 EU member states. Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia were noticeably absent from the signatures.

In addition to EU countries, the letter of support was signed by the USA, New Zealand, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Israel, Chile, Montenegro and Switzerland, as well as several international organisations such as the Cervantes Institute and the British Council.

The embassies and institutions “expressed full support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex communities and their right to equality, non-discrimination, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and freedom from violence.”

“Respect for the law and human rights are the foundations on which democratic states are built. We support the fight against hate speech, violence and discrimination faced by LGBTQI+ people,”  theywrote.

Poland’s lack of signature mirrors events a month ago, when PM Mateusz Morawiecki was almost alone in defending Viktor Orban at a EU council. One of the topics of the meeting was the homophobic law in Hungary, which links homosexuality to pedophilia.

(Mateusz Kucharczyk | EURACTIV.pl)