Dispute over child protection law: Orbán sets conditions for acceptance of EU Corona

Hungary does not want to accept any funds from the EU from the Corona reconstruction fund if Brussels makes this dependent on the abolition of the law restricting information on homosexual and transsexuality.

This was decreed by Hungary's right-wing national prime minister Viktor Orbán in an ordinance that appeared in the Hungarian Law Gazette late Friday evening.

The EU Commission has been examining legal steps against the law for weeks because it is directed against non-heterosexual people.

The EU Commission is delaying approval for the Hungarian corona reconstruction plan "due to its political rejection of national legislation for the protection of children," according to Orbán's regulation.

In this context, Hungary will only accept an agreement in which "the European Commission does not impose any conditions on Hungary that do not apply to other Member States". 

Orbán wants to hold a referendum on the law 

The Hungarian Child Protection Act has been criticized for forbidding children from accessing information about non-heterosexual lifestyles.

Orbán is also planning a referendum on this.

The EU Commission has not yet approved the Hungarian plan for the use of corona funds - but this also applies to other EU countries.

However, the EU Commission has not yet made an explicit connection to the controversial Hungarian law.

Several national plans for the so-called development and resilience facility of the EU have already been approved, including the German one.

According to current calculations, around 7.2 billion euros are earmarked for Hungary.

On Friday, Hungary announced that the EU would not resume talks on billions in aid for at least two months. An agreement on the economic aspects of Hungary's reconstruction plan is imminent, Orbán said on the radio. The postponement is solely due to the dispute over the law on dealing with homosexuality and transgender. Hungary will now finance the projects, some of which have already been approved, from its own budget. "Whether the money comes from Brussels or not, we will take the money from the Hungarian budget."