Viktor Orban goes to a great short circuit in the center of Budapest. “This is undoubtedly a historical event”
– I call on the Hungarian authorities to permission to carry out the equality parade in Budapest. I am asking to the LGBTQ+ community in Hungary and other countries: I will always be your ally – said the chairwoman of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday.
Orban immediately reacted in social media and called von der Leyen to “refrain from interfering in the matters of enforcement in the Member States.” Although von der Leyen will not personally be there to oppose Orban, he plans to take part in the parade over 70 members of the European Parliament.
They will be joined by the Spanish Minister of Culture Ernest Urtasun, Dutch Minister of Education EPPO Bruins, representatives of the French government, mayors of the main European capitals, former Belgian Prime Minister Elio di Rupo and former prime minister of Ireland Leo Varadkar.
On Friday, on the eve of the ceremony, the European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib will also go to Budapest. In the meantime, Hungary clearly hinders that foreign politicians participating in the parade will break the law.
Despite the list of international guests, Hungarian Minister of Justice Bence Teson He maintains the ban on organizing a parade.
In a letter addressed this week to several embassies, to which Politico reached, he repeated that The organizers may be sentenced to prison and the celebrations are illegal. The letter was a response to a joint statement of several dozen ambassadors from Budapest, mainly from EU countries supporting the event and its organizers.
“Please inform your colleagues and colleagues about these facts to remain clarity,” wrote Tuson. “The legal situation is clear: the equality parade is A meeting prohibited by lawand its organization or announcement is an offense punishable by imprisonment up to one year in accordance with Hungarian law. People participating in the event banned by the authorities commit an offense ” – he added.
Although the participants of the march will act unlawfully, it is unlikely that they are directly detained by the police or far -right demonstrators. During the Thursday press conference, Orban called on not participating in the march, but noted that he was not planning to use force. – Hungarians are a civilized nation. They don't hurt each other – he said.
It is more concerned about whether the government will use the face recognition technology to impose seats on participants, which is currently being examined by the Commission, as this may be a violation of EU law.
The fact that participants do not consider the events to be dangerous is evidenced by the fact that the spokesman for the Spanish Minister of Culture Urtasuna, who will be present on the spot, said Politico that “there is no contact with the Hungarian police.”
– I am not afraid of the Hungarian police or far -right activists emboldened by the populist rhetoric of Viktor Orban; We are here to defend European values with the citizens of Hungary who came to protest. It will undoubtedly be a historical event in the fight against authoritarian regimes – said French MEP Chloe Ridel from the Socialist Party.
According to the spokesman for the European Parliament, “everything is ready to ensure the safety of MEPs and all people accompanying them.”
Not get caught in the trap of Orban
Although the parade will be attended by several parties of Pro-LGBTQ+, such as the left-wing democratic coalition, the party of the Green Mayor of Budapest Gergely Kararsony or the satirical party of the dog with two tails, their support is much smaller than the support of the opposition leader of Peter Magyar.
Demonstration against the ban on the Equality Parade in Hungary, Brussels, Belgium, June 25, 2025.
Magyar's party, Tisza, has been running in polls for months, increasing the advantage over the ruling Orban party, Fidesz. Tisza systematically avoided the prohibition of the Budapest Pride organization, as well as the broader topic of LGBTQ+ rights and identity policy, because she is working on building a vague majority that will allow her to take away power from Orban in the upcoming elections in April 2026.
– We will not get caught up in Orban's trap. We will not be used in a provocative cultural war, the purpose of which is to divide society and divert attention from the collapse of public services and rising costs of life. Of course, the government led by Tisza would not violate the freedom of gatherings – said Politico close collaborator Magyar, MEP Zoltan Tarr.
– We want MPs to the European Parliament to understand that the only way to minimize the benefits for Orban and maximize the benefits for Hungary is to avoid falling into his trap. He wants to show moral outrage to be able to say: “Brussels attacks Hungary again.” But this is not about abstract values, it is about very specific damage to Hungarian citizens – he added.
Cultural war
In the face of the growing popularity of the extreme right in Europe, which is accompanied by an increasing limitation of the rights to sexual and sexual self -determination, The organizers perceive the parade as an opportunity to show the world that Hungary is more than the unliberal Orban government.
– I think it is very symbolic that we can show that Budapest is free, and Hungarians and the Hungarian government are two separate things – said Richard Barabas, co -chairman of the Green Party of the Parbeszed Mayor of the Mayor of Karacsony. – Equality parade will be a common opposition to the opponent's opponent orban. I think it goes far beyond the equality parade or limiting the rights of the LGBTQ+community. It is about Europe, the rule of law and our basic values as Europeans – he added.
Hungary, with the government of the extreme right managed by Fidesz, lead the attack on the liberal approach of the continent to civil rights as well as sexual and sexual freedoms. In recent years, Orban has accepted rhetoric modeled on the conservative movement of the magician (Make America Great Again) in the United States, becoming European initiator of a global attack on the ideology of gender and WOKE culture (“Woke” term [ang. “obudzony”] It refers to the socio-political movement, which focuses on raising awareness of unevenness and discrimination in society).
In the first decade of the 21st century, Hungary was one of the most progressive EU countries in terms of the rights of LGBTQ+persons, but after Orban came to power in 2010 there was a regression and a ban on marriages of the same sex and adoption of children by homosexual couples was quickly introduced. In 2021, the Orban government adopted the Act on the protection of children, which allows the authorities to prohibit content presenting or promoting homosexuality and sex change.
In March this year, the Orban government adopted a law prohibiting public assembly, which “promotes or expose” the LGBTQ+community, under the pretext of child protection. This agent, effectively prohibiting the celebration of Pride throughout the country, led to a serious confrontation between the government and the mayor of Karacki and the organizers of Budapest Pride.
The organizers of Budapest Pride have committed that they would organize an annual event, as they did each year since 1997, when the capital of Hungary became the first city in Eastern Europe, in which the Equality Parade took place.
Shortly thereafter, Kararacsony announced that he had found a legal gap that would allow the organization of the parade. Calling the city council to organize a march, Kararacsons successfully released the organizers of the event from the obligation to obtain the consent of the police, which they would probably not receive.
Whether the participants will be prosecuted and fined as part of a political counterattack will be an open issue in the coming weeks and months.
