Budapest’s defiant mayor questioned by police about Pride: ‘Neither freedom nor love can be banned’
Gergely Karácsony has said again that love cannot not be banned. (Getty)
Gergely Karácsony has said again that love cannot not be banned. (Getty)
Budapest’s mayor Gergely Karácsony has been questioned by police over accusations he helped organise a banned Pride event in the city.
The right-wing Fidesz party, led by Viktor Orbán who has been the European country’s Prime Minister since 2010, passed an anti-LGBTQ+ law banning Pride marches in Hungary in March 2025 on the grounds that the depiction of homosexuality was a threat to minors.
The ban, which was met by protests from opposition politicians and members of the public alike, proposed fines of up to 200,000 forints (£420/$550) for organisers of Budapest Pride, and anyone attending, claiming the event could be considered harmful to children.
Despite the ban, on 28 June, tens of thousands of people, including the city’s Mayor, Gergely Karácsony, took to the streets of Budapest to defy Orbán.
Ahead of the march, Karácsony announced that Budapest Pride would return regardless of the recently-passed Hungarian law, declaring that “freedom and love cannot be banned.”
‘Neither freedom nor love can be banned in Budapest’
On Friday (1 August), Karácsony attended Hungary’s National Bureau of Investigation where he was questioned over accusations he helped organise a Pride event.
He addressed a crowd of around 200 supporters ahead of entering the headquarters. He said, as reported by the Daily Mail: “A month ago at Budapest Pride, very, very many of us told the whole world that neither freedom nor love can be banned in Budapest. And if it cannot be banned, then it cannot be punished.”
Budapest Pride ended up being the country’s largest-ever parade to date, far outnumbering the expected turnout of 35,000 – 40,000 people.
Orbán’s political opponent, Péter Magyar, who leads the TISZA party, did not miss the opportunity to point out the irony of Orbán’s ban leading to the country’s largest ever Pride.
“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,” Magyar wrote in a social media post.
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