Hungary defended Thursday its latest controversial law seen to be targeting LGBTQ people, which allows citizens to report anonymously on those who "cast doubt" on the "role of marriage and family".
Adopted in Budapest last week, the law modified 2014 legislation on whistleblowing by widening the list of areas where citizens can report abuses.
Citizens will be able to report "in the public interest of... protecting the Hungarian way of life," according to the bill's text.
New topics covered by the law include "casting doubt" on the "constitutionally recognised role of marriage and family".
Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff Gergely Gulyas on Thursday said the new bill merely harmonises Hungarian legislation with a 2019 EU directive on whistleblower protection.
"We adopted an EU legal standard," Gulyas told reporters in Budapest while addressing criticism of the bill.
"At one point (the EU directive) leaves the Hungarian legislator the opportunity to highlight certain aspects," he said, adding that there are no plans to introduce sanctions into the criminal code.
Since an amendment in 2019, Hungary's constitution states that marriage is only possible between a man and a woman, and that the mother is a woman and the father is a man.
The legislation is "a legal nonsense... aimed at curbing freedom of expression without actually sanctioning it," said Aron Demeter of the rights group Amnesty International Hungary.
Since the adoption of the bill, some on social media...
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