Ministers resist Tweede Kamer’s push to join banned Pride march in Hungary
Several Dutch cabinet members are resisting a motion from the Tweede Kamer urging the government to send a delegation to the banned Pride march in Budapest, AD reports. The proposal, adopted Thursday with support from a majority including coalition parties VVD, NSC, and BBB, was dismissed by PVV Vice Prime Minister Fleur Agema as “a crazy motion.”
“A Pride is great fun. If anyone wants to go: be my guest. But this is really not for me,” Agema said Friday. “I’ve never even been to the Gay Pride in the Netherlands, so it makes no sense for me to go to Hungary.”
PVV leader Geert Wilders also rejected the motion Thursday, calling it “complete nonsense” and “really embarrassing.” He added, “Let the cabinet work here instead of participating in that madness.”
The controversial motion was introduced by opposition party Volt and supported by a broad coalition including VVD, NSC, BBB, SP, GroenLinks-PvdA, PvdD, D66, and CDA. Only the PVV voted against it.
Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber responded Friday, “Let the Tweede Kamer go themselves.” PVV Minister Barry Madlener also criticized the idea. “I would rather see cabinet members solving problems than dancing on a boat,” he said.
Vice Prime Minister Mona Keijzer of BBB distanced herself from her party’s support for the motion and said she would not attend. “I have nothing against Prides—I was on a CDA boat years ago during Pride in Amsterdam,” she said. “But I find it quite strange to express yourself like this in another city, in another country. To begin with, I control my own time.”
Even some VVD ministers who backed the motion expressed reluctance. Finance Minister Eelco Heinen said, “First and foremost, I am a minister, not an activist.” VVD Vice Prime Minister Sophie Hermans said the cabinet would wait to see how the event is organized before deciding how to “express what is important to us.”
The Tweede Kamer’s motion responds to Hungary’s national ban on Pride events, imposed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s far-right Fidesz party. Participation in such events can result in a fine of 500 euros. The Dutch cabinet has previously condemned the ban, but it is unusual for members of a foreign government to take part in political demonstrations abroad.
Despite the national ban, Budapest’s local government is attempting to move forward with a Pride march. Mayor Gergely Karácsony, a vocal critic of Orbán, has called Pride “an important part of Budapest’s identity.” A new event is being planned, though a permit has not yet been issued.
Hermans said Friday the government would wait to see how Hungarian authorities respond. “We must first wait and see what is decided in Hungary regarding the announced Pride march,” she said.
