Budapest Police have rejected calls to allow the 30th annual Budapest Pride Parade to proceed and have instead given permission for a far-right group to march through the streets at the time planned for the parade.
Hatvannégy Vármegye Ifjúsági Mozgalom (HVIM), known as the Sixty-Four Counties Youth Movement have announced that they’ve secured the route planned for the parade for their own event.
“We showed how to stand in the way of LGBTQ+ lobby organizations. This time, we acquired the route of Budapest Pride and took steps to prevent it.” the group declared on their webpage.
The group are known for marching clad in black and advocating for traditional values and Hungarian history.
Hungary’s parliament where Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz Party holds a large majority announced new laws in March that created the legal basis to ban LGBTIQA+ related marches, and also allows authorities to track down people participating using facial recognition technology.
Last week the Mayor of Budapest announced the city would endorse the Pride Parade, circumnavigating the government’s new laws. Mayor Gergely Karacsony is seen as the major political rival to the Prime Minister.
The scheduling of an event involving the HVIM has been seen as the police trying to scare away the Pride event.
The European Union’s member states released a joint statement in May calling for the Pride Parade to be allowed to proceed.
Human Rights Watch researcher Cristian González Cabrera said the moves in Hungary to ban Pride were concerning.
“The right to peaceful assembly is a cornerstone of democracy. Hungary’s government is dangerously treating it as optional.” González Cabrera said.
