Tens of thousands march in first authorized Budapest Pride

Tens of thousands of people marched through Budapest on Saturday in the city's annual Pride parade, the first such event to be officially authorized since a new government took power following the defeat of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in April. Participants braved a severe heat wave, with temperatures reaching at least 38 degrees Celsius, to celebrate the 31st Budapest Pride.

The march, which began at the city's Opera House and wound through the center before crossing the Danube River, marked a significant shift from recent years. Orbán's nationalist government had sought to ban the event, passing legislation and a constitutional amendment in 2025 that classified participation as a minor offence and expanded the use of facial recognition surveillance around the march. Despite the ban, last year's Pride attracted a record turnout, estimated by organizers at over 200,000 people, in a mass act of defiance.

This year, police authorized the event and provided security along the route. The change follows the electoral victory of Prime Minister Péter Magyar and his center-right Tisza party, which ousted Orbán after 16 years in power. While the new government has not yet repealed...