The new Hungarian constitution which upholds the traditional definition of marriage and the right to life, has been attacked in a motion tabled by the Liberal, Social Democrat and far-left GUE/NGL groups in the European Parliament.

The new constitution also affirms the role of Christianity in Hungary’s history.

The resolution, which is set to be voted on today, suggests that the wording is “unclear…when defining basic notions such as ‘family’ and the right to life from the moment of conception”.

It claims that this alleged lack of clarity “creates the risk of discrimination against certain groups in society, namely ethnic, religious and sexual minorities, single-parent families, people living in civil partnerships and women”.

It calls on Hungary, amongst other things, to ban “discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, provide sufficient guarantees concerning the protection of fundamental rights”.

CARE Europe, which campaigns to protect the family and religious freedom at the EU level, are urging MEPs to vote against the resolution.

David Fieldsend, Manager of CARE Europe, says that the resolution shows a lack of respect for national sovereignity. Quoting the Vice President of the EU Commission, Viviene Reding, he said “the Commission does not make political judgements on the fundamental constitutional and institutional choices of a Member State”.

He added that the criticism of the constitution for being “unclear” in regard to the family was inaccurate.

“Far from being unclear the definition of marriage as being ‘the Union between a man and a woman’ is quite specific,” Mr Fieldsend said.

He quoted a report of the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional matters, into the Hungarian constitution, in regards to what the document says about marriage.

The Commission’s report says that in the absence of established European standards in this area “the definition of marriage belongs to the Hungarian State and its constituent legislator”.

The Council of Europe had requested the Commission to prepare a report the new constitution in the wake of its passage in April.

Mr Fieldsend also quoted the report in relation to the right to life from conception.

According to the report “the ECtHR is of the view that, in the absence of common standards in this field, the decision where to set the legal point from which the right to life shall begin lies in the margin of appreciation of the states, in the light of the specific circumstances and needs of their own population”.

After the passage of the constitution in April, Germany’s Deputy Foreign Minister Werner Hoyer said his government was observing the developments in Hungary “with great attention and not without concern”.

He suggested that Hungary’s understanding of basic rights was incompatible with that of the European Union.

However the Hungarian foreign ministry rejected the criticism as “unacceptable”, accusing Germany of interfering publicly in Hungary’s internal affairs instead of using bilateral talks to air concerns.

Mr. Hoyer “is basically evaluating Hungarian internal political developments. The statement is inexplicable and unacceptable as German foreign policy leaders have been briefed in detail several times about the process of Hungary drawing up a new constitution,” Zsolt Nemeth, state secretary at the ministry and a lawmaker from the governing Fidesz party.