The Budapest Police Headquarters (BRFK) "has issued a prohibition order on a non-existent event", Karacsony said, adding that "by that logic they may as well have banned the walking of unicorns."
 

He argued that since the city council had not announced a gathering subject to the law on public assembly, "the prohibition order is irrelevant".

"The metropolitan council will organise the Budapest Pride celebration of freedom on June 28, the day of Hungarian liberty as a city council event. Full stop," the mayor said.
 

In a separate social media post, Karacsony noted that Hungary marks the day of Hungarian freedom on the last Saturday of June, "so it goes without saying that Budapest will celebrate freedom with a city council event next Saturday."
 

"It is 34 years after the withdrawal of Soviet troops and in the shadow of the intrusion of Russian interests and the shadow of power politics that tramples on rights that we must think about freedom, not just on national holidays," Karacsony said.

"A free society ... means that citizens look out for not just their own freedom but also that of others. When we defend the freedom of others, we also defend our own. Because either we are free together or not at all."

"It is when everyone receives equal treatment and when everyone’s faith, religion, views and orientation are respected that we can talk about freedom. When no one can be subjected to unfair discrimination, then we can talk about the enforcement of justice," he said. This was why, Karacsony said, the city was organising the Budapest Pride event to celebrate the day of Hungarian freedom.

Police bans Budapest Pride event

The Budapest Police Headquarters has banned the Budapest Pride event announced for next Saturday.

According to a document released on the police.hu website on Thursday, under its authority over public gatherings, the police has banned events along the City Hall - Karoly Boulevard - Astoria - Museum Boulevard - Kalvin Square - Vamhaz Boulevard - Fovam Square - Liberty Bridge - Muegyetem Embankment route between 6am and 10pm on June 28.

The decision cannot be appealed, they said, adding that it can be challenged within three days through administrative litigation filed with the Kuria, Hungary’s supreme court.

According to the document, the planned event, dubbed Budapest Buszkeseg (Pride), was organised by the city of Budapest and the Rainbow Mission Foundation, and "the meeting's facilitator is [Budapest] Mayor Gergely Karacsony" .

"The authority has established … that the event is subject to the law on public assembly," the police said. Referring to an earlier Facebook post by the mayor, the police said it "clearly refers to the Pride event, its international context and social content".
 

The police quoted the mayor as saying in the official notification about the event that "it will not be a Pride event, there will be no floats or dancers and it will go ahead without any expressions of sexuality", but, the statement added, "this remark is not consistent with the mayor's earlier post", and could be misleading.

The police statement insisted that the planned gathering was subject to the assembly law because "the content of an event is not defined by its name … but the intent and actual social function presented in the public messages."

The police added that earlier Pride marches in Budapest "could be considered as antecedents", adding that footage from earlier years suggested that the planned gathering would "promote a deviation from one's sex at birth as well as present and promote homosexuality". 

If the event were held, children would unavoidably witness "behaviours prohibited by law", they added. Those watching the march could become "passive subjects of the violation" even if they did not wish to participate, the police's statement said.


Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com

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