Dozens of Germans departed for Budapest early on Friday (June 27) to attend the banned Pride march this weekend despite warnings by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban not to attend.

The trip’s spokesperson, Benjamin Dick said that although uneasy, "it actually strengthens our resolve to go there and show solidarity together.”

Orban said on Friday there would be "legal consequences" for organising or attending the Budapest Pride march in violation of a police ban on the event planned this weekend.

“As a gay person, it is important to me that my rights are preserved in some way,” said Tim Stenzhorn before he boarded the bus, adding, “I keep saying that it doesn't stop there, in Hungary. If you look at the United States or Poland, our rights are being attacked,” he said.

Hungary's parliament, in which Orban's right-wing Fidesz Party has a big majority, passed legislation in March that created a legal basis for police to ban LGBTQ marches, on the grounds that protecting children would supersede the right to assemble. It also lets police use facial recognition cameras to identify people who attend and impose fines.

Critics see the move to ban Pride as part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of a general election next year when Orban will face a strong opposition challenger, seen by some recent opinion polls as pulling ahead.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

COLOGNE, GERMANY (JUNE 27, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF YOUNG PEOPLE BOARDING BUS HEADED FOR BUDAPEST’S PRIDE MARCH

2. PEOPLE SEATED INSIDE BUS

3. (SOUNDBITE) (German) BUS TRIP’S SPOKESPERSON, BENJAMIN DICK, SAYING:

“The situation is a bit uncomfortable when you consider that the Pride demonstrations, regardless of who has registered them, for example the NGOs or the mayor, have been rejected by the police and the right-wing extremist demonstrations that have just been or will be registered simply go ahead. So it's an uneasy feeling but it actually strengthens our resolve to go there and show solidarity together.”

4. RED TRAIN PASSING IN STATION / TRAVELLERS WITH LUGGAGE STANDING IN STATION HALL

5. VARIOUS OF GROUP OF PEOPLE HEADED FOR BUDAPEST STANDING TOGETHER OUTSIDE STATION

6. (SOUNDBITE) (German) BUDAPEST BUS TRIP PARTICIPANT, LINA ROSSKAMB, SAYING:

“I think above all we are in a privileged position. There are Prides everywhere in (the German state of) North-Rhine Westphalia now, which is really good, where you can just go. I believe that it's also a bit our responsibility to go to places where it can be very unpleasant in order to set an example, to stand together for queer rights throughout Europe. Our position is that this is our responsibility."

7. (SOUNDBITE) (German) BUDAPEST BUS TRIP PARTICIPANT, TIM STENZHORN, SAYING:

“On the one hand, there is the idea of support, also a bit on my own behalf. As a gay person, it is of course also important to me that my rights are preserved in some way. I keep saying that it doesn't stop there, in Hungary now, for example. Or if you look at the United States or Poland, our rights are being attacked somewhere, we're all being attacked somehow. If freedom is restricted in Hungary, then somehow our freedom is also restricted. And we can already see in Germany that it starts with things like a Pride flag being banned on the Bundestag (parliament) building and maybe it doesn't stop there. In the end, we end up with an autocratic regime like the one we have now in Hungary with Viktor Orban. That's why it's important that we take a stand there for the people who can't, that we're loud and show that, okay, we're here, we'll keep fighting and we won't let this happen to us."

8. GROUP OF PEOPLE HEADED FOR BUDAPEST STANDING TOGETHER

9. (SOUNDBITE) (German) BUDAPEST BUS TRIP PARTICIPANT AND LOCAL GREEN PARTY YOUTH SECTION’S SPOKESPERSON, ASNI BASKAS, SAYING:

“It is absolutely important that we are travelling to Budapest today because we are standing up for human rights and showing Viktor Orban that we are sending a signal and showing that if there is a threat of a Pride somewhere, we will go there and stand up for human rights. Because if you don't stand up for human rights there, then that also means a threat of legal pressure here in Germany. It's super important that we stand up for them."

10. MAP OF BUDAPEST ON GPS DISPLAY

11. PERSON’S FINGER CONFIRMING ROUTE TO BUDAPEST ON GPS

12. BUS DRIVING OFF AT 6 A.M. (0400 GMT) AS CHURCH BELLS ARE HEARD RINGING, COLOGNE CATHEDRAL SEEN IN BACKGROUND