By Krisztina Fenyo and Gergely Szakacs
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Thousands of Hungarians protested in Budapest on Tuesday against a law that aims to ban the annual Pride march by LGBTQ+ groups, and which is seen by critics as part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of a 2026 parliamentary election.
Right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who faces a strong challenge from a surging opposition party ahead of the vote, has criticised the LGBTQ+ community and pledged to curb foreign funding of independent media and non-governmental organisations in Hungary.
Parliament, dominated by Orban’s Fidesz party, passed a law last month to ban the Pride march on the grounds that it could be harmful to children. Orban, who has been in power since 2010, promotes a Christian-conservative agenda.
The law says police can use facial recognition cameras to identify people who attend the event, and impose fines on participants, which critics say could become a tool to target Orban’s political opponents.
Orban has said the fact that rallies such as the one on Tuesday could take place meant there was no threat to democracy, calling opposition protests against the new law “provocation.”
However, some demonstrators attending the protest, the third rally over Orban’s reforms, voiced concerns about the health of Hungary’s democracy more than two decades after it joined the European Union.
A group of embassies in Budapest, including European states but not the United States, has also expressed concern over the changes.
“We, the undersigned Embassies, are deeply concerned about the legislation…that results in restrictions on the right of peaceful assembly and the freedom of expression,” 22 embassies including France, Germany and the United Kingdom said.
Festival organisers say the Pride march poses no threat to children and they are planning to hold the event despite the ban.
(Writing by Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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