Hungarian police said they will not prevent anyone from taking part in next month’s Budapest Pride parade, signaling a shift in LGBTQ+ policy in the country since Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office earlier this month.
“The Budapest Metropolitan Police has approved the 2026 Budapest Pride Parade and also has issued restrictive orders in relation to three counter-demonstrations,” a police spokesperson told POLITICO on Friday.
The announcement reinforces Magyar’s pledge to pursue a more liberal approach to LGBTQ+ rights in Hungary.
Magyar’s predecessor, right-wing prime minister Viktor Orbán, was known for his government’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights. In early 2025, Hungary’s parliament passed legislation that eventually led to the banning of the Budapest Pride parade.
Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony, a political rival of Orbán and Green politician, however, found a legal loophole and proceeded with the march last year despite the ban. More than 100,000 people attended, including several European politicians and critics of Orbán’s government.
Karácsony was subsequently charged for defying the government ban, but the court suspended proceedings in March. Last month, the EU’s top court struck down the anti-LGBTQ ruling by Orbán’s government.
Karácsony welcomed the unbanning of pride parade this year. “This is the right decision. It demonstrates that, despite the suffocating political climate of the past decade and a half, the culture of freedom in Hungary has endured,” he told POLITICO on Friday.
“It shows that there are still people with the courage to stand firm. It shows that what is plainly true cannot be obscured by dishonest rhetoric,” he added.
Vula Tsetsi, co-chair of the European Green Party, told POLITICO: “We are very happy with this. It’s a hopeful signal for democracy and fundamental rights in Hungary after years of attacks on the LGBTQI+ community.”
The rally is set to take place on June 27.
