Everything is ready for the Budapest Pridean event that has taken on considerable political relevance beyond national borders. Initially conceived as a celebration of homosexual pride, the rainbow march was redefined by the Municipality as an event of “city pride”. However, its symbolic and political meaning remains central, as confirmed also by the mayor of the Hungarian capital, Gergely Karácsons, which defined the initiative “A European deal”.
According to estimates, around 35 thousand people from different European countries are expected. Their participation is seen by many observers as a response to the attempts of the Hungarian government to limit the event. The national authorities have in fact issued a ban, considering it formally illegal. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that those who organize or take part in the march will have to “take into account the legal consequences“, Even without specifying in detail which they will be. Participate in the event, according to the current provisions, could lead to penalties up to a year of imprisonment.
Despite these restrictions, several organizations, representatives of the LGBT community and international delegations have confirmed their presence. Among these, also a few MEPs of the parliamentary groups of the Socialists & Democrats, the left and the liberals. The European People’s Party will not officially participate, but has expressed solidarity in the criticisms aimed at the decision of the Hungarian government, in line with what was stated by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The S&D Group has also organized a meeting of its Bureau in Budapest, highlighting the symbolic importance of the event. The president of the group, IraTxe García Pérez, underlined that the presence of parliamentarians is linked to the defense of European values of freedom, equality and dignity.
There Italian left It presents itself well compact, playing to make Ilaria Salis. Just like Avs’s MEP, Elly Schlein & Co. left for the magical capital to protest against the far right, regardless of the ban imposed by the government. The secretary dem has repeated the refrain of all time: “We are here for freedom and democracy. You cannot ban love by law. You cannot erase people’s identity, our body, we are people we have directed. Prohibiting Pride is a violation of European constitutional rights”. At his side Carlo Calenda: “Europe is based on the state of law, the protection of the right to manifest peacefully and to love those who want to be independently of sex. Today they are in Budapest to testify that liberals do not accept the proputinian and authoritarian drift of Orban in silence”.
Mayor Karácsons has reiterated that the event has a value concerning the entire European Union: “If a Pride march can be prohibited in a Member State, no European citizen can feel fully protected”.
They remain however fears related to security: The police device has been strengthened in the city, and there is discussion on the possible authorization of a countermener by far -right groups. Emblematic what happened a little while ago: a dozen members of the Hungarian extreme right collective “64 Counties Youth Movement” tried to occupy Városháza Park where the Budapest Pride will soon begin. After a long negotiation with the magic police, the demonstrators were removed. The mayor expressed concern about possible tensions, hoping that any parallel manifestations will be kept separate, in order to guarantee public order.
The police installed surveillance cameras along the entire announced path of the event. The Hungarian authorities have declared that these devices, equipped with facial recognition technology, will be used to identify the participants and, if deemed necessary, apply administrative penalties based on the prohibition issued by the authorities. The measure is located within the framework of the announcement of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who in recent days had spoken of possible “legal consequences” for those who will take part in the event. According to official sources, it is the first time that such a system is employed in Hungary on the occasion of a public event. The LGBTQ+ community has announced that it will make free legal assistance participants, in the event that fines or other penalties were issued. A jurist close to the associations promoting Pride observed that “the image generated by a facial recognition system may not be sufficient, alone, as proof valid in the judicial site”.
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