Hungary tells EU partners not to attend Pride parade banned by police
March organisers meanwhile sent their own letter, insisting that police had no authority to ban the procession and vowing it will go ahead as planned.
Since Prime Minister Viktor Orban returned to power in 2010, Hungary has passed a series of laws criticised at home and across the European Union for curtailing LGBTQ rights in the name of "child protection".
Last week, police banned the country's main Pride march from taking place in Budapest, but the capital's mayor has defied the interdiction, saying that police had no right to ban an event organised by city hall and vowing it would go ahead as planned.
"The legal situation is clear: the Pride parade is a legally banned assembly... those who take part in an event prohibited by the authorities commit an infraction," said the letter signed by Justice Minister Bence Tuzson and dated Tuesday.
"Kindly ensure that your co-workers and colleagues are duly informed of these facts, in order to maintain clarity," it added.
Pride organisers, in turn, sent a letter to embassies insisting the police had no right to ban the event -- organised by the city council -- and that the march is "neither banned nor unlawful".
"We continue to work on ensuring that Hungary's largest Pride takes place this Saturday in a safe and secure environment," Budapest Pride president Viktoria Radvanyi said.
Police have said the ban was necessary under recent legislation that bans the promotion of same-sex relationships to under-18s.
The conflict over the Pride march has already sparked protests in Hungary.
Several members of the European Parliament have said they will attend the parade.
European equalities commissioner Hadja Lahbib is expected in Budapest on Friday and may attend the march, as may ministers from several European Union countries, according to the organisers.
Attendees risk a fine of up to 500 euros ($580). Police may use facial recognition technology to identify them.
Organisers risk a one-year prison sentence.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen called on the Hungarian authorities to reverse the ban and not to punish organisers or participants.
"I call on the Hungarian aurothities to allow the Budapest pride to go ahead, she wrote on X, calling herself an LGBTQ ally.
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