Budapest Pride went ahead on June 28 in defiance of a government ban, drawing the backing of more than 70 members of the European Parliament and several prominent European ministers, who travelled to the Hungarian capital to show their support for the LGBTQ+ community.

Between 100,000 and 200,000 mostly young people danced and sang their way from Pest to Buda in a powerful symbolic challenge to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s illiberal rule.

Despite official warnings that participation in the event constituted a criminal offence, thousands of activists and citizens marched through the Hungarian capital in the baking summer weather. They were joined by European political leaders, including Spanish Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun, Dutch Education Minister Eppo Bruins and former prime ministers Elio Di Rupo of Belgium and Leo Varadkar of Ireland.

“This will undoubtedly be a historic event in the fight against authoritarian regimes,” said French MEP Chloé Ridel, who attended the march. “I am not afraid of the Hungarian police or the far-right activists emboldened by Viktor Orbán’s populist rhetoric; we are here to defend European values alongside the Hungarian citizens who have come to protest.”

The Hungarian government declared the event illegal under legislation passed in March, which bans public assemblies that “promote or display” LGBTQ+ identities, citing child protection concerns. In a letter addressed to embassies ahead of the march, Justice Minister Bence Tuzson warned that organising or attending the parade could result in criminal penalties. “The legal situation is clear,” he wrote. “Those who take part in an event prohibited by the authorities commit an infraction.”

Nonetheless, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony defied the government and gave the march the go-ahead by designating it as a “city council-organised demonstration,” effectively bypassing the police permit requirement. The move allowed Pride organisers to hold their annual march, continuing a tradition that began in 1997, when Budapest became the first Eastern European capital to host a Pride parade.

While Prime Minister Orbán called on citizens not to attend, he said the government would not deploy force. “Hungary is a civilised country. We do not hurt each other,” he said in a press briefing. However, concerns remain over whether authorities may pursue fines or charges using facial recognition technology.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, although not present, publicly supported the march in a video statement ahead of the event. “To the LGBTIQ+ community in Hungary and beyond: I will always be your ally,” she said.

For many attendees, the march was about more than LGBTQ+ rights. “Far beyond Pride itself or the curtailing of the rights of the LGBTQI community, I think it’s about Europe, it’s about the rule of law, and it’s about our core values as Europeans,” said Richárd Barabás, co-chair of Mayor Karácsony’s Green Party Párbeszéd.

Yet Hungary’s main opposition party, Tisza, led by Péter Magyar, avoided taking a position. Gay rights remain controversial topic in the conservative Hungarian society. “We refuse to walk into Orbán’s trap,” said MEP Zoltán Tarr, a close ally of Magyar. “He wants a moral outrage show so he can say: ‘Brussels is attacking Hungary again.’”

As the country heads toward elections in April 2026, Budapest’s Pride march underscored the deepening divide over civil liberties and Hungary’s place in the European project. Whether attendees will face legal repercussions in the weeks ahead remains uncertain, but the demonstration made clear that opposition to Orbán’s cultural agenda is both domestic and European.

The turnout was impressively high compared to the just 35,000 who took part last year, and was in part an anti-government protest. Many partygoers carried placards ridiculing Orban. T-shirts with Orban's image, in bright eyeshadow and lipstick, were everywhere.

Budapest Mayor Karacsony, who made the event possible, was ebullient amongst the revellers. "We don't exactly look as though we were banned!" he told the crowd in a short speech in front of the Budapest Technical University. "In fact, we look like we're peacefully and freely performing a big, fat show to a puffed-up and hateful power. The message is clear: they have no power over us!" Karacsony continued, the BBC reported.

The ban on the pride smacks of Russia’s authorities, which has similar anti-propaganda laws restricting gay rights. Hungary’s law was recently passed by Orban's Fidesz party, subordinating the freedom of assembly to a 2021 Child Protection law that equates homosexuality with paedophilia, nominally to prevent children being exposed.

Elsewhere in the capital, Orban attended the graduation ceremony of 162 new police and customs officers, and new officials of the National Directorate-General for Policing Aliens.

"Order does not come into being by itself; it must be created, because without it civilised life will be lost," Orban told the students and their families.

Police recently gained new powers to use facial recognition software, and participants now face possible fines of between $19 and $500 if prosecuted. However, thanks to Karacsony designating the event as a “demonstration”, for the time being the march is legal unless the courts rule otherwise.