Orbán says Pride marched in the Budapest ‘on the orders of Brussels’

By&nbspEuronews Hungary

Published on
29/06/2025 – 21:47 GMT+2

The international press estimates the number of participants in Saturday’s event, the Budapest Pride march – which was, in fact, the outlawed Budapest Pride – at between 100- and 200,000.

One thing is for sure: the organisers broke the previous record of 35,000 by a considerable margin.

On Sunday, it was finally became clear how Viktor Orbán assessed the Saturday parade, as the Prime Minister. He had told the Pride organisers in February that they “should not bother” with their organisational efforts, as the government would not allow the event to take place.

Orders from Brussels?

The Prime Minister sent a message to the “Warriors’ Club”, an organisation close to his party Fidesz – which also reached the independent news website Index – in which he wrote that “Brussels has issued an order that there must be a Pride in Budapest. Their puppet politicians have carried out the order. This is proof of what life would be like if our country were not run by a national government defending our sovereignty. Orders from Brussels, puppet politicians in Budapest in hats, TISZA, [social democrat] DK and Karácsony [Mayor of Budapest] voters in the streets”.

Orbán called the event itself “disgusting and shameful”, pointing out that events such as drag performances, men in high heels or brochures on hormone therapy “do not fit into Hungarian culture”. He added that “the 3.7 million voters of the 2022 gender vote” could “not be matched by the number of any demonstration”.

Orbán – the king of Pride?

His main rival Péter Magyar did not miss the opportunity to react. The leader of the TISZA party said that “Viktor Orbán became the king of Pride in Europe yesterday, because no one else has ever managed to mobilise such a large crowd for a demonstration against himself by inciting hatred”.

The opposition politician took full advantage and wrote in his post that “Orbán can no longer govern, public services are falling apart. The Hungarian railways stop running every weekend, the health care system is dying, people are living worse and worse and everyone is cutting their pennies.” Recent polls have shown his party leading Fidesz by up to ten points. Parliamentary elections are expected to be held in April next year.

A clever trap?

The government officially tried to play down the massive event – and even spin it as a “clever trap” by Viktor Orbán, using it to reinforce his narrative that Pride marchers were a manipulated minority, but political scientist Gábor Török disagreed. According to him, “the clumsy ban and the police’s legal manoeuvring” also indicated that events have taken a wrong turn for the government:

“Fidesz certainly did not miss the spectacle of today, the crowds, the distant images that almost resemble the Peace March – and of course the prominent role of Our Homeland,” he said in his Facebok post.

By 20:00 on Saturday, police had arrested 36 people, one woman for criminal mischief and one man for possession of drugs. Two people were taken ill and a 15-year-old boy was injured when he fell from the railing he was climbing. The police called an ambulance as a safety measure, police.hu reported.