Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony charged over organisation of Pride March

Hungarian prosecutors have formally charged Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony in connection with the organisation of the 2025 Budapest Pride march.

Karácsony charged over organising Budapest Pride March

According to a statement published by the V. and XIII. District Prosecutor’s Office, Karácsony is accused of committing a misdemeanour by violating the right of association and assembly. Prosecutors are seeking a financial penalty and aim to conclude the case without a full court hearing.

The charges stem from the Budapest Pride event held on 28 June 2025, which became the largest Pride march in the country’s history despite a formal police ban. The mayor was questioned as a suspect on 1 August at the National Bureau of Investigation, and his complaint against the investigation was rejected in mid-August.

Government introduced new laws that prohibited the event

Earlier this year, Hungary’s parliament amended the constitution to prioritise children’s right to “healthy development” over the right to assembly. In parallel, changes to the assembly law prohibited demonstrations deemed to conflict with the so-called child protection legislation, which critics widely describe as homophobic.

Despite these legal changes, Karácsony announced in mid-June that the Budapest Municipality would organise the event under the name “Budapest Pride” as a municipal programme. However, police classified it as a public assembly, arguing that it involved public expression on political and social issues and was open to anyone.

444 writes that on 19 June, the Budapest Police Headquarters formally banned the event, citing both the amended child protection law and the fact that another event had allegedly been registered earlier for the same time and location. Prosecutors state that Karácsony was informed of the ban on the day it was issued, did not seek legal remedy, and went on to organise and lead the march regardless.

Still, it was a record-breaking march

The Pride procession eventually took place, stretching from Madách Square in the city centre to the Buda riverside near the Technical University. Tens of thousands attended, including dozens of Members of the European Parliament, foreign mayors, diplomats and ambassadors.

Reacting to the charges, Mayor Karácsony wrote on Facebook: “I have gone from a proud suspect to a proud defendant.” He argued that the fine is being sought precisely because Budapest hosted “the largest freedom march of recent decades”.

The mayor maintains that the municipality had the right to organise an event on its own public spaces and described the charges as politically motivated. He also stated that it was inevitable, under the current political system, that criminal law would eventually be used against him.

“This is the price of standing up for our own freedom and the freedom of others in this country,” Karácsony wrote, adding that Budapest would continue to resist what he called a “selfish and suffocating” system.