Members of the European Parliament, including French MEP Raphael Glucksmann, Luxembourger Marc Angel, and Spanish leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Iratxe Garcia Perez, pose with Amnesty International activists during a ‘Mini Pride’ demonstration against Hungary’s Pride ban in front of the European Parliament and the Hungarian representation in Brussels, Belgium, 25 June 2025. Over 14,000 people in Belgium and 75,000 worldwide have signed Amnesty International's petition calling on Hungarian authorities to allow Budapest Pride to take place without fear or violence. The 30th edition, scheduled for 28 June, is at risk of being banned under a new law passed in March that allows authorities to prohibit the march, fine participants, prosecute organizers, and use facial recognition to identify attendees. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET Tens of thousands of protesters marched through Budapest in June 2025 despite a police ban, turning the Pride march into a mass anti-government demonstration in one of the biggest shows of opposition to former nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Orban was ousted in a landmark election on April 12after 16 years in power by the centre-right Tisza party.
Prosecutors charged Karacsony before the election in January, saying he had violated the law by organising and leading a banned assembly.
Karacsony had attempted to circumvent the police ban by registering the Pride march as a municipal event, which he argued did not require a permit. The march in downtown Budapest ultimately went ahead peacefully.
Prosecutors said on Thursday that they dropped the charges against Karacsony, citing a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in late April which said that Hungary’s 2021 “child protection” law violated EU law. This law served as a basis for banning the Pride event.
“Considering the ruling by the European Court ... the prosecutors dropped charges against the Budapest mayor for violating the law on freedom of assembly,” they said.
The European court found that the legislation unlawfully restricted access to content portraying homosexuality and gender variance and breached fundamental rights and EU values.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Alex Richardson and Toby Chopra)