This is Orbán's huge defeat: Hungary is ready for change, Mayor Karácsony from the ranks of the Greens has immense popularity among his fellow citizens, and of course Pride has been and will be unstoppable.
“This Pride will be more than Pride” - I posted on my social networks the day before leaving for Budapest, and it really happened. Over a hundred thousand people, mostly from Hungary and across Europe, stood with Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony, supported LGBTIQ people in their country and made it clear to Viktor Orbán that his autocratic rule was coming to an end.
No need to spend a lot of words on Orbán. Through radical nationalism and hatred of the weak, he mobilizes his voters, and through the repression of the media and attacks on civil society and the judiciary, he authoritatively maintains himself in power. But since he has recently begun to be threatened by his party colleague Péter Magyar, Orbán has embarked on a further radicalisation of his Fidesz party.
So in February, it amended the Public Gathering Act and allowed police to ban public gatherings if it also “jeopardizes the interest of the child” -- perfiously targeting public LGBTIQ events. This shameful decision already caused a number of reactions from Hungarians themselves because it introduced the possibility of police filming citizens with cameras at a public gathering and fining them with 500 euros.
From February to June in the European Parliament, there was critical talk of Orbán's tightening on several occasions. My Green Club has been fiercely critical of his autocracy for years and calls for stronger sanctions, especially through the abolition of EU funding. Since the beginning of my term in office, I have been advocating for more direct funding of cities from the EU, because it is precisely in the case of Budapest that Orbán spends EU funds for his clique and does not allow this money to be used by the City of Budapest.
Interestingly, Orbán draws part of his popularity from demonizing Ursula von der Leyen, Manfred Weber (who expelled him from the European People's Party after too long) and Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he does not admit to being a victim of Putin's aggression. At the same time, Orbán does not want to withdraw from the EU, but to reform it and create an alliance of autocratic states. Of course, it continues to be abundantly funded by EU funds, while refusing to give the European Prosecutor General the power to oversee the spending of EU funds.
It was to be expected that Orbán would try to ban Pride. Although the organizers immediately filed lawsuits with the competent courts, the captured Hungarian judiciary expressly rejected them. It is clear that the introduced provision is unsustainable under the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, but long-term procedures will have to be launched or individual cases brought before the European courts to challenge Orbán's decision. There was no time for that now.
Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony entered the scene, along with Tomašević and the new mayor of Riga, the only green mayor of European capitals. The mayor, in agreement with the local organizers of Pride, found a “loophole” in the law that says that the events organized by the city of Budapest do not fall under the Law on Public Assembly and the city takes over the organization of Pride.
The mayor invited a number of European politicians to come to Pride and the turnout was really high: about 70 colleagues (including 20 from my Green Party) and many MPs from national parliaments. Also, 33 embassies in Budapest have publicly supported Pride.
Unfortunately, our Croatia stood side by side with Italy, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria, which were the only ones from the EU who did not give public support to the Budapest Pride. The mayor knew that international pressure needed to be put in order for everything to go well because uncertainties existed until the last minute.
Thus, for example, the police, although they did not have the authority to do so, issued a ban on the organization of Pride as a city event. In parallel, four far-right organizations have requested public gatherings precisely on the route of Pride. Their demands were approved. A couple of days before Pride, Hungary's justice minister sent a letter to all ambassadors in Budapest not to come to Pride because otherwise they would be wrongfully punished. But all these uncertainties -- the alleged “illegality,” the possibility of a lack of police protection, the threat of violent groups and intimidation by the minister -- have intensified the mobilization of citizens to come to Pride.
The warnings that we do not wear Pride emblems around the city and how to behave in case of tear gas use reminded me of the first Pride in Zagreb. After meeting with a number of associations fighting corruption and protecting human rights, the mayor organized a reception for all international guests. We were accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister of Spain Yolanda Díaz Pérez (who also sent a message to the LGBTIQ community in Croatia), the Spanish Minister of Culture, the Mayor of Amsterdam, the Mayor of Athens, the Commissioner for Equality of the European Commission Hadja Lahbib and many other politicians.
The morning before the Parade was ordinary and calm. The gathering was announced at 2 p.m. and the procession at 3 p.m. We Greens gathered in the premises of the Central European University (CEU), where we hung out with Mayor Karácsony. About two meters tall, he is incredibly modest, even shy, and it was seen that the role of a superstar did not suit him even though he was truly a European star that day!
More than a hundred accredited European journalists followed his press, and he persistently empowered people to come to Pride, not to be afraid because he knew that the huge responsibility for security lay precisely on him.
At around 1pm we headed towards the City Hall from where the procession was moving, and before that we met with colleagues from the European Parliament and made a mini “Pre-Pride” in one square. Everything went peacefully. When we reached the Town Hall in the square where the counter-protests were announced, there were already thousands of colorful flags and happy people who looked like they were having a good time.
The counter-protesters were pushed to the very edge of the park by the police, and several of them. In just 15 minutes, the square was so full that neither the end nor the beginning could be seen.
Shortly after 3 p.m., the mayor led the column. I and my colleagues were around the middle of the procession, and due to the amount of people we waited a good 30 minutes to start marching at all.
There was an outpouring of emotion in the column. Many came to Pride with children. For a while, I was walking with a family that came with a 9-month-old baby, “just for spite of the stupid child protection law.” They believed that even Pride like this was a safe space for children.
For me, the most emotional moment was a conversation with a pensioner from Budapest who told me through tears that she was returning to the emotions she had when she watched the fall of the Berlin Wall and that now Hungary had a new opportunity to correct its wrong path that it had chosen with Orbán. She lives on a 430 euro pension - and that is the best proof of Orbán's failure.
Only Orbán's elite live well in Hungary today. A huge number of people came to the procession to say no to Orbán. And that's why this Pride was so much more than Pride. On the platform of rights for LGBTIQ people, he was able to mobilize all those who fight for democracy, for human rights and for the rule of law. All people who want a good and dignified life for themselves and for others.
After two hours of walking we reached the Freedom Bridge. Most of the historical photographs of Pride were also created there. Originally it was supposed to go over a nearby bridge, but the radical right blocked it and the police isolated them. They realized that any attack on Pride or mass punishment of citizens was something they could not afford.
Although I missed the big party after Pride, I was glad to see that both Zagreb Pride organizers and activists came to support Pride. At least we, if it is not already the Government, have expressed support for the Hungarian people, on behalf of numerous Croatian citizens. On the way to the bus, walking around the city, I saw hundreds of young people with Pride flags. Pride was celebrated in every corner of the city.
