Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban did his best to stop the annual Pride march going ahead in Budapest yesterday, but his efforts backfired.
The march was widely reported to have seen its biggest ever turnout, becoming a rallying point for people concerned about freedom of assembly as well as LGBTQ+ rights.
Estimates put turnout at between 100,000 and 200,000 people, with striking images showing crowds flow across the Danube over the Elisabeth Bridge with barely space to wave a flag.
The controversy turned what was usually a more lowkey event with perhaps tens of thousands attending into a huge political rally, attracting attention across the EU.
On Friday, Orban threatened ‘clear legal consequences’ for anyone joining the march, but police stayed on the sidelines after the liberal mayor of the city allowed the march to proceed.
Pride marches have been banned in the country since early 2025, when Hungary passed a law restricting the freedom of assembly by connecting it to a previous law from 2021 prohibiting children seeing public portrayal of ‘divergence from self-identity corresponding to sex at birth, sex change or homosexuality’.
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The ban allows people organising or taking part to be fined, and allows police to use facial recognition software to identify them.
To allow the march to go ahead, the city’s mayor Gergely Karacsony renamed it as Bupadest Pride Freedom, casting it as celebrating the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary in June 1991.
More than 70 members of the European Parliament were expected at the 30th Pride march.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU Commission, urged beforehand: ‘I call on the Hungarian authorities to allow the Budapest Pride to go ahead. Without fear of any criminal or administrative sanctions against the organisers or participants. To the LGBTIQ+ community in Hungary and beyond: I will always be your ally.’
Pro-government media cast a negative light on the events, with daily newspaper Magyar Nemzert using the headline ‘Chaos at Budapest Pride’ focusing on traffic disruption, and accusing the organisers of being globalist puppets.
Event organisers said: ‘The main message of the jubilee Budapest Pride is: we are here! We are at home in Hungary, and we are at home in Europe. Solidarity across borders shows: Europe has not forgotten the Hungarians. There are a lot of people who care that Hungarians can once again live in a democracy and under the rule of law.’
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