Budapest Fights Back and Defies Orban's Pride Ban With Largest Ever March
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"I suggest that the organisers of Budapest Pride don't put much effort into planning this year. It is a waste of time and money." - said Viktor Orbán in late February in his annual address to his faithful. A few months later, his party, Fidesz, modified the Hungarian constitution so that "the display and promotion of homosexuality" can be banned from public spaces under the guise of "child protection." Those who would organise and partake in such events were threatened with fines, possibly as high as £400.
Orbán had to make his annual early-year address in a tense environment for a second year in a row. Last February, Hungary was engulfed by a major political scandal when President Katalin Novák resigned after it emerged that she pardoned the deputy principal of an orphanage who tried to cover up the systemic sexual abuse of children.
Since then, Fidesz has struggled to take back control of the narrative. While the party won the European elections last June, Péter Magyar's new Tisza Party, directly spawned by the clemency scandal, gained 30% of the votes. Since then, by constantly touring the country and highlighting the dire state of Hungary's railways and healthcare, Magyar's party has slowly overtaken Fidesz and is now in a consistent, clear lead with even a possibility of a constitutional majority in 2026.
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This sparked a visible panic in Fidesz, resulting in increasingly authoritarian measures. Apart from the Pride ban, in the past few months, Fidesz attempted to dismantle the independent Hungarian press by banning any form of foreign funding. In a speech in March, Orbán called his opponents "bedbugs." Earlier this year, the government introduced legislation allowing for the suspension of dual nationals' Hungarian citizenship.
Meanwhile the Government upped their dehumanising rhetoric towards the LGBT community, with ministers cynically suggesting that Pride should be held at Kincsem Park, Hungary's national horse race course. Fidesz elevated their anti-Ukraine rhetoric too. Prominent Fidesz politician Alexandra Szentkirályi posted a video of herself with a handcuffed man behind her in the trunk of a car, suggesting that if Ukraine joins the EU, Hungarians will fall victim to people smugglers.
However, what is really different from the Government's current aggressive communications campaigns, compared to previous years is that this time, they simply do not seem to work. Fidesz keeps making unforced errors, previously uncharacteristic of Viktor Orbán. Efforts to relaunch Hungary's battered economy have been failing constantly despite repeated
Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
"I suggest that the organisers of Budapest Pride don't put much effort into planning this year. It is a waste of time and money." - said Viktor Orbán in late February in his annual address to his faithful. A few months later, his party, Fidesz, modified the Hungarian constitution so that "the display and promotion of homosexuality" can be banned from public spaces under the guise of "child protection." Those who would organise and partake in such events were threatened with fines, possibly as high as £400.
Orbán had to make his annual early-year address in a tense environment for a second year in a row. Last February, Hungary was engulfed by a major political scandal when President Katalin Novák resigned after it emerged that she pardoned the deputy principal of an orphanage who tried to cover up the systemic sexual abuse of children.
Since then, Fidesz has struggled to take back control of the narrative. While the party won the European elections last June, Péter Magyar's new Tisza Party, directly spawned by the clemency scandal, gained 30% of the votes. Since then, by constantly touring the country and highlighting the dire state of Hungary's railways and healthcare, Magyar's party has slowly overtaken Fidesz and is now in a consistent, clear lead with even a possibility of a constitutional majority in 2026.
Blue Labour on MAGA Square: Maurice Glasman's Journey to Trumpism
Jon Bloomfield and David Edgar look at the nationalist populist drift of Labour's anti-progressive tendency
Jon Bloomfield and David Edgar
This sparked a visible panic in Fidesz, resulting in increasingly authoritarian measures. Apart from the Pride ban, in the past few months, Fidesz attempted to dismantle the independent Hungarian press by banning any form of foreign funding. In a speech in March, Orbán called his opponents "bedbugs." Earlier this year, the government introduced legislation allowing for the suspension of dual nationals' Hungarian citizenship.
Meanwhile the Government upped their dehumanising rhetoric towards the LGBT community, with ministers cynically suggesting that Pride should be held at Kincsem Park, Hungary's national horse race course. Fidesz elevated their anti-Ukraine rhetoric too. Prominent Fidesz politician Alexandra Szentkirályi posted a video of herself with a handcuffed man behind her in the trunk of a car, suggesting that if Ukraine joins the EU, Hungarians will fall victim to people smugglers.
However, what is really different from the Government's current aggressive communications campaigns, compared to previous years is that this time, they simply do not seem to work. Fidesz keeps making unforced errors, previously uncharacteristic of Viktor Orbán. Efforts to relaunch Hungary's battered economy have been failing constantly despite repeated
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