Dear African and European leaders,

Ahead of the “first ever” EU-Egypt summit between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa and Egypt’s President Abdelfattah Al-Sisi on 22 October, Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office said:    

Regarding the recently adopted Constitutional amendments in Slovakia, we the undersigned 56 civil society organizations, express our profound concern, and urge the EU to take urgent action.

Pécs Pride organizer faces threat of imprisonment – The annual LGBTQI Pride March in Pécs (Hungary) is scheduled to be held on 4 October 2025. Unlike the Budapest Pride, which was held in June as a municipality event, the Pécs Pride is organized by a private individual as an assembly. It had been banned by the police on 5 September and the Kúria (the Supreme Court of Hungary) upheld the ban. The ban on Pécs Pride is exposing the organizer to the threat of imprisonment, as holding a banned assembly constitutes a criminal offence under the Hungarian Criminal Code. 

Amnesty International and 8 international human rights organisations express profound concerns regarding the Georgian government’s all-out assault on human rights and civil society organisations in the country and call on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally end all persecution of civil society and media groups for their peaceful and legitimate work. The European Union, its member states and the broader international community should take urgent and coordinated measures to respond to and end this crackdown.

Authorities must ensure people’s right to protest is protected, as is their ability to take part safely in Saturday’s Budapest Pride, free from intimidation, harassment or violence, said Amnesty International ahead of tomorrow’s 30th anniversary Budapest Pride March, which has been banned by the police.

On 27 May, EU Ministers will meet at the General Affairs Council (GAC) to hold yet another hearing on the situation in Hungary under Article 7.1 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). In a joint open letter to EU ministers, Amnesty International and 5 other human rights organisations call for concrete EU action to address Hungary’s erosion of human rights and the rule of law.

In a joint open letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law, and Consumer Protection Michael McGrath, Amnesty International and 325 other civil society organisations raise the alarm on the new Hungarian bill entitled “Transparency of Public Life”, which would enable the government to target, defund and dissolve any organisation it designates as “a threat to Hungarian sovereignty”.

Amnesty International is presenting this submission to the European Commission ahead of the preparation of its 2025 Enlargement Package. It details Amnesty International’s human rights concerns and outlines key recommendations that the EU should prioritize in the framework of Serbia’s EU accession process as well as any other ongoing engagement with the authorities. 

In an open letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council António Costa, Amnesty International and 57 other human rights organizations, media freedom groups, journalists’ organisations and representatives of the international legal community raise our profound concern over the extraordinary assault by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the right to political participation, the rule of law and human rights in Türkiye and call for an effective and robust response by the EU, its member states and its institutions.

In response to the European Commission’s call for evidence on ‘EU-India relations – new comprehensive strategic approach’, Amnesty International made the following submission.

The following letter was sent to President Ursula von der Leyen, Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, Commissioner Michael McGrath, and Commissioner Hadja Lahbib of the European Commission by 23 LGBTI and human rights organisations.