European Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib will next week attend Budapest Pride, an LGBTQ+ celebration that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has tried to ban.
A European Commission official said Lahbib can participate in the march on Saturday, June 28, if it is not banned, but that in any case Lahbib will meet with civil society representatives and activists in Budapest the day before.
Hungary, led by Orbán’s ultra-conservative Fidesz party, has pushed for multiple laws clamping down on LGBTQ+ rights, including a ban on homosexuality and gender transition content across media that children could be exposed to. In March, the Hungarian government moved to ban the Budapest Pride event under the pretext of protecting children.
Green Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony, however, announced Monday that the march will be organized by the municipality, which, he said, means the police can’t stop it.
“It’s time to show that we are proud of our freedom, and to show that in this city, no one can be a second-rate citizen,” the mayor said on social media.
Lahbib will join around 70 members of the European Parliament, including Socialists and Democrats (S&D) Chair Iratxe García, liberal Renew Europe Chair Valérie Hayer and Greens Co-Chair Terry Reintke.
The Dutch secretary of state for education and several mayors from big European capitals will be in attendance too.
Lahbib’s attendance comes after weeks of pressure from MEPs and activists for the Commission to be there. The EU executive had been silent in its position of objective powerbroker between member countries.
Despite calls from activists and politicians for the Commission to attend the pride no matter what, if the event is ultimately banned Lahbib will not attend the parade, the official said.
Her participation in a banned event would cause a further crisis between Brussels and the Hungarian government, at a time when Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is trying to bring Orbán on board with extending sanctions against Russia and aid for Ukraine.
A majority of EU countries asked the Commission at the end of May to penalize Hungary over its law permitting the ban of the upcoming Pride celebrations.
European Commissioner for Justice Michael McGrath said Wednesday during a parliamentary debate that the Commission is assessing the legality of Orbán’s bill under EU law.
“Nobody has anything to fear from a Pride parade,” McGrath added.
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