Thousands to walk in the capital of Hungary despite the prohibition of the government, highlighting resistance to the EU scale against anti-LGBTQ laws.
A record number of people should attend a march of pride in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, defying an unprecedented regression of LGBTQ rights in the European Union.
Saturday’s event comes after the Prime Minister Viktor Orban Prime Minister’s power coalition at the start of this year and the Constitution prohibits the annual celebration. The Government of Orban has constantly argued that legislation defends traditional family values and protects children.
While the Prime Minister was embarked by the anti-diaphility offensive of President Donald Trump in the United States, his own initiatives have attracted demonstrations at home and a condemnation of the EU and rights for the defense of rights.
Friday, the nationalist chief said that even if the police would not “break” the 30th edition of the Marche de la Pride, those who participated should be aware of the “legal consequences”.
Despite the risk of a fine, more than 35,000 people should meet at 2 p.m. (12:00 p.m. GMT) near the Budapest town hall, an hour before the start of walking.
The ministers of several EU countries and dozens of European politicians should attend the ban on the ban, recalling events in Moscow in 2006 and Istanbul in 2015.
“We have not only defended ourselves for ourselves … If this law is not overthrown, Eastern Europe could face a wave of similar measures,” said Pride organizer Viktoria Radvanyi.
Earlier this week, EU Ursula von der Leyen has called on Hungarian authorities to reverse the ban.
Thirty-three countries also spoke in support of the walk.
While parades are risking up to a year in prison, participants can incur fines up to 500 euros ($ 580). The latest legal changes allow authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those that participate.
Freshly installed cameras have appeared on lampposts along the planned road.
However, the mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karacsony, insisted that no participant can face any reprisals as a march – co -organized by the town hall this time – is a municipal event and does not require the approval of the police.
“The police have only one task tomorrow, and it is serious: to ensure the security of the Hungarian and European citizens who attend the event,” said Karacsony during a briefing with the EU equality commissioner in visit Hadja Lahbib.
Far-right groups have announced several counterprints along the planned procession.
The Minister of Justice, Bance Tuzson, sent this week a letter to the EU embassies this week warning diplomats and staff against participation due to the prohibition of the police.
Several EU countries have informed their citizens of the potential of fines through travel opinions.
Since the return to power of Orban in 2010, the country of 9.6 million people have not decreased LGBTQ rights.
Legal changes have, in fact, prohibited same -sex couples from adopting children, prevented transgender people from changing their name or sex in official documents, and a law of 2021 has prohibited “the display and promotion” of homosexuality for children under 18.
In March, politicians adopted a bill targeting the annual march of pride, modifying the law of 2021 to prohibit any gathering violating its provisions.
A month later, Parliament also adopted a constitutional change to strengthen the legal foundations of the prohibition.
“Orban uses a recipe experienced before next year elections generating a conflict,” Daniel Mikeecz, political analyst, to the AFP news agency, told. Orban was a “polarizing company,” he added.
Voters’ opinion polls suggest that the Fidesz d’Orban party has lost ground against the opposition.
The first march of pride took place in 1970 in New York to mark the birthday of the city’s Stonewall riots in June 1969, which created the Homosexual Rights Movement.
