Hungary Pride march wins backing of some foreign embassies, but not US

23/6/2025 19:44

Britain, France and Germany and 30 other countries expressed support on Monday for Hungary's LGBTQ community and a Budapest Pride march on June 28, which was banned by police after the government denounced it as potentially harmful to children.



However the U.S., whose President Donald Trump shares Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's suspicion of efforts to promote diversity and transgender rights, was not a signatory of a statement by the countries' embassies backing the march.



Parliament, in which Orban's Fidesz party has a majority, passed a law in March that created a legal basis for police to ban Pride marches of the LGBTQ community on the grounds that protecting children should supersede the right to assemble.



Critics see the move to ban Pride as part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of a general election next year when Orban will face a strong opposition challenger, seen by some recent opinion polls as pulling ahead.