Budapest (AFP) – Hungarian police said Friday that they would not ban next month's Pride parade in Budapest, a reversal from last year when the event was barred under the former nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban.
Issued on: 29/05/2026 - 14:06
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Prime Minister Peter Magyar, a pro-EU conservative who ousted Orban from office after 16 years in April elections, has regularly voiced support for equality and freedom of assembly. But he has not specifically endorsed the Pride parada, nor moved to reverse a slew of laws passed under Orban that have restricted LGBTQI+ rights. Pride organisers made a formal notification Wednesday about their intention to hold this year's march on 27 June 27. "During the notification process for the 2026 Pride parade and the subsequent in-person consultation with the organisers, no grounds for prohibiting the assembly arose," police told AFP in a statement. New Hungarian PM's campaign silence on gay rights worries activists The statement also said police had issued "prescriptive-restrictive decisions regarding three counter-demonstrations", allowing the gatherings but distancing them from the Pride parade. Last year's Pride march attracted a record turnout of more than 200,000 people, according to organisers, despite the official ban.
