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Interior Minister Seehofer
Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
How should the other EU countries deal with the homophobic government around Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán?
The debate about an appropriate response has been going on since Hungary presented its latest discriminatory bill.
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer is in favor of a tougher approach - and a cut in EU funds.
Orbán had gone too far with the latest law, said the CSU politician of the Augsburger Allgemeine.
"I think the cut in EU funding is a way of showing that we're not just looking on." EU warned.
The debate was triggered by a law that bans the alleged advertising of homosexuality, for example in school books.
Educational programs on the subject or advertising by large companies that express solidarity with homosexuals should therefore be prohibited in the future.
This also applies to educational books on the subject.
This would violate central values of the European Union, criticized Seehofer: "We must not and will not accept that." The European values must be resolutely represented, this can be done in different ways.
Critics fear Russian conditions in Hungary
The CSU politician has long been considered a supporter of the Hungarian head of government in the European People's Party (EPP), which Orbán's national conservative party Fidesz has left this year.
Orbán has ruled Hungary with Fidesz since 2010. He has taken increasingly conservative positions and presents himself as a defender of Catholic values against a liberal West.
Critics fear the effort to introduce anti-gay censorship based on the Russian model in the EU country Hungary.
Orbán has already attracted attention in the past through statements that critics classified as xenophobic and homophobic.
jok / Reuters
