Hungarian prosecutors have officially charged Budapest’s opposition mayor, Gergely Karácsony, for organizing the city’s Pride parade last June despite an explicit police ban. The event drew a record turnout of over 200,000 people and served as a major act of defiance against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s increasingly restrictive laws regarding LGBTQ+ rights. Prosecutors are now seeking a fine through a summary judgment without a trial. The mayor remains defiant, describing himself as a “proud defendant” and asserting that the prosecution is a consequence of standing up for freedom against “petty and despicable power.”
Date: January 28, 2026. Source: euractiv.com