Orban Says Hungary Will Not Implement EU Court Ruling

The Hungarian government will not implement a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that found a 2021 amendment to the Child and Family Protection Act in breach of EU rules.

Outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote this in a letter to Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok, the MTI news agency reported.

The amendment, described by several media outlets as the “anti-LGBTI law”, restricted content accessible to minors that depicted or promoted homosexuality or gender reassignment, including in schools, advertising and media services. The court found that the rules discriminated against LGBTI people, stigmatized them by linking them to offenses against the sexual morality of children and limited freedom of expression.

“The court has clearly taken a political decision that raises serious concerns about European Union law and constitutional law”, Orban wrote in the letter, dated 30 April and posted on Facebook by Gergely Gulyas, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office. He added that respecting and protecting Hungary’s sovereignty and constitutional identity was obligatory for everyone.

In December 2022, the European Commission brought an action against Hungary before the CJEU, arguing that the Child and Family Protection Act violated Hungary’s obligations as an EU member state. The court upheld the Commission’s case in its ruling of 21 April 2026.

“Following an action for failure to fulfil obligations brought by the European Commission in that regard, the Court of Justice finds that Hungary has acted in breach of EU law on a number of separate levels: the primary and secondary law relating to services in the internal market, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Article 2 TEU and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)”, the court said.

(MTI, tasr)