Gergely Karácsony urged people to take to streets in June in pushback against Orbán government’s attack on rights
Prosecutors in Hungary have filed charges against the progressive mayor of Budapest, seeking to fine him months after hundreds of thousands of people heeded his call to take to the streets in defiance of the government’s ban on Pride.
The June march made headlines around the world after the ruling Fidesz party, led by the rightwing populist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, backed legislation that created a legal basis for Pride to be banned, citing a widely criticised need to protect children.
The legislation, believed to be the first of its kind in the EU’s recent history, led Hungarian police to ban Budapest Pride. Soon after, however, the city’s mayor, Gergely Karácsony, declared it to be a municipal event in an attempt to circumvent official authorisation.
A record number of people – including Hungarians from across the country and dozens of MEPs and officials from across Europe – turned up, transforming the march into a potent symbol of pushback against Orbán and his government’s steady rollback of rights.
