Charges dropped against Budapest mayor over 2025 Pride march
Hungarian prosecutors have dropped charges against Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony over his role in organising a Pride march last year. The event took place in June 2025, despite warnings of potential legal repercussions by Hungary's then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose gove
Hungarian prosecutors have dropped charges against Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony over his role in organising a Pride march last year.
The event took place in June 2025, despite warnings of potential legal repercussions by Hungary's then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose government had passed a law banning public events involving the LGBTQ community.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Hungarian prosecutors cited a landmark ruling from the EU's top court as its reason for dropping the charges.
Budapest's annual pride march went ahead last year in spite of the ban, with organisers of the march saying at the time that a record 200,000 people took part.
Speaking at the march, Karacsony said: "Neither freedom nor love can be banned in Budapest."
Authorities charged him with organising the event in January.
But in April, the European Court of Justice ruled that Hungary's anti-LGBTQ laws violate EU rules and infringe its values of equality and minority rights.
The laws banned so-called promotion of homosexuality or gender change to under-18s, arguing it violated child protection laws.
