Unlike last year, police in Hungary will not ban Budapest’s Pride march in June. In the framework of the registration process for the 2026 event and subsequent talks with organizers, there were “no grounds for a ban on the assembly,” the police told the AFP news agency on Friday. The organizers had on Wednesday officially named June 27 as the date for the Pride march in Hungary’s capital.
The police also explained that they had issued resolutions with conditions tied to three counter-demonstrations. The counter-protests are approved, but should be kept away from the Pride event.
For years, Hungary’s former prime minister Viktor Orbán had restricted the rights of queer people under the pretext of “child protection.” In 2025, the Hungarian parliament passed a constitutional amendment aimed at banning demonstrations for queer rights. The reform was also enshrined in the Hungarian constitution (TheColu.mn reported).
New Prime Minister Backs Freedom of Assembly
Orbán’s successor Péter Magyar defeated the long-serving right-wing populist after 16 years in office in the April elections (TheColu.mn reported). The conservative leader of the Tisza Party is seen as pro-European and has repeatedly spoken in favor of equality and freedom of assembly. However, Magyar has not explicitly endorsed Pride demonstrations, and he has so far taken no steps to overturn the numerous laws restricting queer rights put in place under Orbán.
In Budapest, last June, despite the demonstration ban, a record number of up to 200,000 people demonstrated for the rights of lesbian, gay and other sexual and gender minorities (TheColu.mn reported). Dozens of members of the EU Parliament also participated to show solidarity. Orbán called the demonstration at the time a “shame” (TheColu.mn reported). The state authorities also went after the green mayor of Budapest for supporting the march: in January he was charged (TheColu.mn reported).
