Budapest Pride Could Have Been Legal and Safe. The European Commission Chose Otherwise.

By refusing to act, the European Commission enabled the ban and left activists alone to defend fundamental rights.

A joint declaration by ILGA-Europe, Forbidden Colours, Reclaim EU, EL*C and OII-Europe

In March 2025, the Hungarian parliament adopted a law explicitly banning Pride events — a direct attack on the freedom of assembly and expression. A law that clearly violates EU values and EU law.

In such situations, the EU treaties give the European Commission the mandate, the duty, and the tools to act.

It should have launched a new infringement procedure against Hungary regarding this law, as it has done in the past regarding the ‘anti-LGBT propaganda’ law adopted in 2021.

It should have requested interim measures from the Court of Justice of the EU to obtain the suspension of the law, making this year’s Budapest Pride lawful and safe for everyone.

It should have defended EU values and EU law, as it was created to do.

But the Commission chose not to fulfil its mandate.

It chose not to act. It chose complicity.

And in doing so, the Commission left Hungarian LGBTIQ+ organisations and human rights defenders alone — fighting not just for a march, but for fundamental rights.

Over the past weeks, we have witnessed incredible resilience from Hungarian civil society. Activists who, despite being abandoned by the EU institution meant to protect them, worked tirelessly and creatively to find ways to ensure the Pride could take place.

But the truth is: this entire situation was avoidable.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission, Hadja Lahbib, Commissioner for Equality, and Michael McGrath, Commissioner for Justice, had every reason — and every opportunity — to act.

Civil society organisations repeatedly demanded concrete actions from them.

Members of the European Parliament and European political groups urged them to do more.

Twenty Member States called on them to act on 27 May 2025.

And still, they ignored all these calls.

Only now, two days before the planned date of the march, has Ursula von der Leyen publicly expressed support for Budapest Pride and the LGBTIQ+ community. While these words are welcome, they do not undo the damage caused by months of inaction by the European Commission.

If she had spoken three months earlier — and backed it with legal action, as required by the EU treaties — Budapest Pride could have taken place legally and safely.

Today, every attempt by local organisers to hold a peaceful and legal march has been met with bans and repression by the Hungarian authorities.

With the support of the municipality, we will be in Budapest alongside Hungarian local organisations — to stand for the rights of all people in the EU to march, to protest, to gather, and to demand equal access to their human rights.

We will be there because we refuse to be silent. But we should not have to do this alone.

The fact that the very institution tasked with protecting EU rights is not acting when those rights are under direct attack should alarm every single European citizen.

Let us be clear with the European Commission: should any incident occur — a fine, an arrest, or any form of repression against human rights defenders and/or people exercising their right to march on 28 June in Budapest — the responsibility will lie with you.

You chose to look away while we remained committed to defending our common EU values.

But none of this had to happen. All of it could have been avoided — if you had just done your job.