Hungary's 15th Constitutional Amendment: Marriage, cash, and power shifts

• Constitutional Amendment: The proposal reinforces the traditional marriage model as a union between a man and a woman and defines the family as the cornerstone of national survival.
• Cash Protection: The new regulations introduce the right to receive payment in cash, which will be constitutionally safeguarded.
• State of Emergency: The government could declare and extend a state of emergency without parliamentary consent, which has sparked controversy.

On Tuesday evening, representatives of Hungary's ruling party, the Fidesz party, submitted the final amendment proposal to the constitution to parliament. The proposal focuses on ideological and conceptual issues. It includes the following provision: "Hungary shall protect the institution of marriage as the union of one man and one woman established by voluntary decision, and the family as the basis of the survival of the nation."

Furthermore, representatives of Fidesz have emphasised that the basis of family relations is marriage and the parent-child relationship. In this context, the amendment includes a provision, previously announced by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, which constitutionally defines that a human being can be identified only as a man or woman. Concurrently, the fundamental law will include the assertion that "the mother shall be a woman, the father shall be a man."

The Hungarian constitution will also include provisions stating that "every child shall have the right to maintain on a regular basis a personal relationship and direct contact with both his or her parents, unless that is contrary to his or her interests." The amendment additionally obliges the state to safeguard the right of children to self-identification according to the gender they were born with, as well as to ensure upbringing in accordance with values rooted in the country's constitutional identity and Christian culture.

The amendment also introduces the right to receive payment in cash, a ban on the production, use, distribution, and promotion of drugs, and practically limitless possibilities for the authorities to suspend the citizenship of individuals who are also citizens of another country.

The amendment proposal envisages the government declaring and extending a state of emergency without parliamentary consent. The opposition has criticised this provision, fearing it could abuse power. The current state of emergency has been in effect for three years, and the new regulations might enable its further extension.

The amendment to Hungary's constitution, which took effect in 2012, requires a constitutional majority in parliament but does not need to be approved via a nationwide referendum. This marks the fifteenth change introduced by the ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition.