Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú will join a cross-party group of MEPs who will travel to Hungary to march in this year’s Budapest pride parade. Viktor Orbán’s government has moved to ban this year’s Budapest Pride festival as LGBTIQ+ activists call on the EU Commission to intervene.
Ní Mhurchú has vowed to send a clear message to Viktor Orbán and authorities in Hungary that they cannot simply trample over the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in Hungary. She described new anti LGBTIQ+ laws in Hungary as an afront to European values of equality and freedom of expression.
Ní Mhurchú has warned authorities in Budapest not to engage in heavy handed tactics with those marching in this year’s pride parade, and has said she will march regardless of the threat of prison or sanction.
“I would encourage people from across Europe to come to Budapest on June 28th and march in solidarity with our LGBTIQ+ brothers and sisters. This is a blatant attack on our civil liberties within the European Union. The Hungarian Government’s repeated violations of the rule of law and EU treaty principles is setting a dangerous precedent”
Ní Mhurchú has backed calls on the EU Commission to use existing legal tools, including requesting interim measures in the ongoing infringement procedure against Hungary’s 2021 anti-LGBTIQ+ law.
According to Ní Mhurchú,
“Can you imagine the 18 year old gay or lesbian young person in Hungary watching this unfold on the news. They will be scared, uncertain and afraid to come out. This isn’t Russia, this is the EU, where we believe in diversity and equality. No-one will stop me marching in the Pride Parade in Budapest this coming June. We are going to send a clear message to Viktor Orbán that the EU will not tolerate his attempts to intimidate the LGBTIQ+ community in Hungary”
The European Court of Human Rights has previously ruled that banning pride events breaches human rights protections. In 2017, the court criticised Russia’s pride ban and considered that “by adopting such [anti-LGBTI+ propaganda] laws the authorities reinforce stigma and prejudice and encourage homophobia, which is incompatible with the notions of equality, pluralism and tolerance inherent in a democratic society”.
The Budapest Pride parade takes place on June 28th, 2025.
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