Hungary has warned EU ambassadors and their staff not to attend a Pride march in Budapest set to be held on Saturday, June 28, saying that police had banned the gathering, according to a letter seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday. "The legal situation is clear: the Pride parade is a legally banned assembly (...) those who take part in an event prohibited by the authorities commit an infraction," said the letter, which was signed by Justice Minister Bence Tuzson and dated Tuesday. "Kindly ensure that your co-workers and colleagues are duly informed of these facts, in order to maintain clarity," it added.
Pride organizers, in turn, sent a letter to embassies insisting the police had no right to ban the event – organized by the city council – and that the march is "neither banned nor unlawful," vowing it will go ahead as planned. "We continue to work on ensuring that Hungary's largest Pride takes place this Saturday in a safe and secure environment," Budapest Pride president Viktoria Radvanyi said.
Since Prime Minister Viktor Orban returned to power in 2010, Hungary has passed a series of laws criticized at home and across the European Union for curtailing LGBTQ+ rights in the name of "child protection."
Last week, police banned the country's main Pride march from taking place in Budapest, but the capital's mayor has defied the interdiction, saying that police had no right to ban an event organized by city hall and vowing it would go ahead as planned.
Police have said the ban was necessary under recent legislation that bans the promotion of same-sex relationships to under-18s. The conflict over the Pride march has already sparked protests in Hungary. Attendees risk a fine of up to €500 ($580). Police may use facial recognition technology to identify them. Organizers risk a one-year prison sentence.
Several members of the European Parliament have said they will attend the parade. European equalities commissioner Hadja Lahbib is expected in Budapest on Friday and may attend the march, as may ministers from several European Union countries, according to the organizers.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on the Hungarian authorities to reverse the ban and not to punish organizers or participants. "I call on the Hungarian authorities to allow the Budapest pride to go ahead, she wrote on X, calling herself an LGBTQ+ ally.