The Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union is condemning Hungary for once again resisting the will of the majority at ongoing talks in Montreal being held from December 7 to 19 for the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15). In a missive sent to ambassadors from all 27 member states, they warned that, as Politicoput it, “the bloc’s global leadership on gender issues risked being undermined by the anti-transgender position of ‘one delegation.’”
That “global leadership,” in this context, is accepting transgender ideology as fact and recognizing as such in formal documents. The Czech presidency wanted “inclusive language” in the COP15 talks, referring to “all genders” and “women and girls in all their diversity,” language that was apparently supported by a “clear majority” of the EU member states during a meeting on December 7. In short, they wanted to declare the debate on gender ideology over and reject the male-female binary out of hand.
But Hungary’s diplomats pushed back, rejecting this new language. Hungary, under the leadership of the socially conservative Viktor Orban, is already seen as an enfant terrible at the EU for its pro-family policies and resistance to the spread of LGBT ideology. When Hungary banned LGBT propaganda targeted at kids—a very popular policy—the EU lashed out with a rare joint condemnation, with Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte stating “my goal is to bring Hungary to its knees” and French president Emmanuel Macron stating that the EU should show “no weakness” in confronting Hungary.
