Budapest mayor cleared as prosecutors drop Pride case after EU court ruling
Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony (Image: Attila Volgyi / AFP / Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP)
Hungarian authorities have dropped charges against Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony over organising the city’s 2025 Pride march, citing a landmark European Court of Justice ruling against Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ laws, according to a statement from prosecutors issued on 4 June.
The event went ahead in June 2025 despite warnings of potential legal repercussions from Viktor Orbán’s government, which passed a law banning public events involving the LGBTQ+ community. Karácsony said at the march: “Neither freedom nor love can be banned in Budapest.”
Authorities charged Karácsony in January with organising the event despite a prohibition order. After his indictment, he said: “It seems that in this country, this is the price you pay if you stand up for your own freedom and the freedom of others.”
Prosecutors said they dropped the charges in light of the EU court decision, which came after Péter Magyar beat Orbán in the election. “Considering the ruling by the European Court… the prosecutors dropped charges against the Budapest mayor for violating the law on freedom of assembly,” they said.
How the case unfolded
Budapest Pride took place on 28 June 2025. More than 100,000 people participated, and organisers said at the time that a record 200,000 people attended.
In April, the European Court of Justice ruled that Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ laws violate EU rules and infringe EU values of equality and minority rights.
Karácsony has been Budapest’s mayor since 2019. A prominent opposition figure associated with green and centre-left politics, he has positioned Budapest as more socially liberal than Hungary’s national government, and has repeatedly clashed with the central state over governance, funding and democratic norms.
What it means for Budapest Pride
The legal threat around the 2025 march had been widely discussed in the run-up to the event.
Hungarian police announced on 29 May that they will allow Budapest Pride to take place in 2026, with the march scheduled for 27 June.
Budapest Pride is one of Central Europe’s most prominent Pride events and has repeatedly drawn international attention amid Hungary’s culture-war politics, functioning in recent years as both a celebration and a protest.
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