Hungary/ Protest against ban on 'Pride Parade', 6 opposition MPs expelled

The Hungarian parliament voted on Monday to temporarily expel six opposition MPs and suspend their salaries, following a symbolic protest against a law banning LGBTQ+ Pride marches in the country.

This is the first time that deputies have been expelled from the assembly since Hungary's democratic transition in 1990, the parliament's press office announced.

The protest took place during a vote on the law, which was passed on March 18 by the parliament controlled by the nationalist and conservative Fidesz party, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The law has sparked waves of protests and international criticism, including more than 20 ambassadors in Budapest expressing their concern.

During the protest in the parliament hall, independent MP Ákos Hadházy and two representatives of the opposition Momentum party lit colored smoke, while three other MPs distributed doctored photos showing Orbán kissing Russian President Vladimir Putin. They also played the Russian national anthem in the background – a gesture intended to show the parallels between Orbán’s policies towards sexual minorities and those pursued by Putin’s government in Russia.

Opposition representatives described the parliament's decision to expel him as an attack on democracy and the right to protest, while the government has not yet commented on the incident.

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