Latest news with #Tisza
DW
7 hours ago
- Politics
- DW
Big attendance expected at Budapest Pride despite police ban – DW – 06/28/2025
The annual Budapest Pride march this year is expected to go ahead in the face of a police ban and government hostility. Organizers said they expect tens of thousands of people from dozens of nations to attend the event. LGBTQ+ rights supporters from some 30 countries are expected to join the Budapest Pride march on Saturday, defying a police ban imposed under legislation introduced earlier this year that forbids the exposure of young people to non-heterosexual lifestyles. The annual event has now come to symbolize resistance to a general repression of civil society in Hungary under the nationalist government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, which is facing a growing challenge from center-right opposition leader Peter Magyar's Tisza party ahead of elections next year. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video More than 30 embassies have voiced support for the march, which will also be attended by European Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib and about 70 members of the European Parliament. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called on Hungarian authorities to let the parade go ahead. "Our Union is one of equality and non-discrimination," von der Leyen wrote in a statement. She called these "core values" that "must be respected at all times, in all Member States." Anyone attending the march, however, risks being accused of a misdemeanor, while organizing such an event could carry the penalty of a one-year jail sentence, according to a letter sent to some foreign embassies in Budapest by Justice Minister Bence Tuzson. The so-called child-protection legislation that allowed the ban to be imposed also allows police to hand out fines and to use facial recognition technology to identify attendees. Over the past decade, Orban's government has frequently been at loggerheads with the EU over its increasing repression of civil liberties and press freedoms under the guise of protecting "Christian" values. The ban on the Pride march is being seen by opponents as part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of next year's elections, at which Orban's government is expected to face a stiff challenge from Magyar, whose party has been leading in opinion polls. The Tisza party, while avoiding taking a strong position on gay rights issues, nonetheless called on the government to protect anyone attending the march. "Peter Magyar has called on the Hungarian authorities and police to protect the Hungarian people this Saturday, and on other days as well, even if it means standing up against the arbitrariness of power," its press office said. Magyar himself has not planned to attend.
AsiaOne
11 hours ago
- Politics
- AsiaOne
Tens of thousands expected to attend Budapest Pride in defiance of ban, World News
BUDAPEST - Tens of thousands of LGBTQ+ rights supporters are expected to attend the Budapest Pride march on Saturday (June 28), defying a police ban as the event has become a symbol of the years-long struggle between Hungary's nationalist government and civil society. Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government has gradually curtailed the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in the past decade, and its lawmakers passed a law in March that allows for the ban of Pride, citing the need to protect children. Opponents see the move as part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of a general election next year when Orban will face a strong opposition challenger. Organizers said they expect tens of thousands to attend, with participants arriving from 30 different countries, including European Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib and about 70 members of the European Parliament. More than 30 embassies have expressed support for the march and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Hungarian authorities to let the parade go ahead. Seventy Hungarian civil society groups, including the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Transparency International Hungary and the Hungarian Helsinki Commission, published an open letter on Friday in support of the march, saying the law that led to the police ban "serves to intimidate the entire society". Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony tried to circumvent the law by organising the march as a municipal event, which he said does not need a permit. Police however banned the event, arguing that it fell under the scope of the child protection law. Orban, whose government promotes a Christian-conservative agenda, provided some clues on Friday about what participants can expect when he warned of "legal consequences" for organising and attending the march. Earlier this week Justice Minister Bence Tuzson warned in a letter sent to some foreign embassies in Budapest that organising a prohibited event is punishable by one year in jail, while attending counts as a misdemeanour. [[nid:719526]] The law that allows for the ban of Pride lets police impose fines and use facial recognition cameras to identify people who attend. When asked about the threat of a one-year jail term, Karacsony said at a press briefing on Friday that such a sentence would only boost his popularity. "But I cannot take it seriously," he said. Making the march a key topic of political discourse has allowed the Orban government to take the initiative back from the opposition and mobilise its voter base, said Zoltan Novak, an analyst at the Centre for Fair Political Analysis think tank. "In the past 15 years, Fidesz decided what topics dominated the political world," he said, noting that this has become more difficult as Orban's party has faced an increasing challenge from centre-right opposition leader Peter Magyar's Tisza party, which has a 15-point lead over Orban's Fidesz in a recent poll. Tisza, which has been avoiding taking a strong position on gay rights issues, did not specify in response to Reuters questions whether it believed the Pride march was lawful, but said those attending deserved the state's protection. "Peter Magyar has called on the Hungarian authorities and police to protect the Hungarian people this Saturday, and on other days as well, even if it means standing up against the arbitrariness of power," its press office said. Magyar himself would not attend.
Straits Times
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Tens of thousands expected to attend Budapest Pride in defiance of ban
BUDAPEST - Tens of thousands of LGBTQ+ rights supporters are expected to attend the Budapest Pride march on Saturday, defying a police ban as the event has become a symbol of the years-long struggle between Hungary's nationalist government and civil society. Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government has gradually curtailed the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in the past decade, and its lawmakers passed a law in March that allows for the ban of Pride, citing the need to protect children. Opponents see the move as part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of a general election next year when Orban will face a strong opposition challenger. Organizers said they expect tens of thousands to attend, with participants arriving from 30 different countries, including European Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib and about 70 members of the European Parliament. More than 30 embassies have expressed support for the march and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Hungarian authorities to let the parade go ahead. Seventy Hungarian civil society groups, including the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Transparency International Hungary and the Hungarian Helsinki Commission, published an open letter on Friday in support of the march, saying the law that led to the police ban "serves to intimidate the entire society". Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony tried to circumvent the law by organising the march as a municipal event, which he said does not need a permit. Police however banned the event, arguing that it fell under the scope of the child protection law. Orban, whose government promotes a Christian-conservative agenda, provided some clues on Friday about what participants can expect when he warned of "legal consequences" for organising and attending the march. Earlier this week Justice Minister Bence Tuzson warned in a letter sent to some foreign embassies in Budapest that organising a prohibited event is punishable by one year in jail, while attending counts as a misdemeanour. The law that allows for the ban of Pride lets police impose fines and use facial recognition cameras to identify people who attend. When asked about the threat of a one-year jail term, Karacsony said at a press briefing on Friday that such a sentence would only boost his popularity. "But I cannot take it seriously," he said. Making the march a key topic of political discourse has allowed the Orban government to take the initiative back from the opposition and mobilise its voter base, said Zoltan Novak, an analyst at the Centre for Fair Political Analysis think tank. "In the past 15 years, Fidesz decided what topics dominated the political world," he said, noting that this has become more difficult as Orban's party has faced an increasing challenge from centre-right opposition leader Peter Magyar's Tisza party, which has a 15-point lead over Orban's Fidesz in a recent poll. Tisza, which has been avoiding taking a strong position on gay rights issues, did not specify in response to Reuters questions whether it believed the Pride march was lawful, but said those attending deserved the state's protection. "Peter Magyar has called on the Hungarian authorities and police to protect the Hungarian people this Saturday, and on other days as well, even if it means standing up against the arbitrariness of power," its press office said. Magyar himself would not attend. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
DW
a day ago
- Politics
- DW
Orban to continue anti-Ukrainian course after 'referendum' – DW – 06/27/2025
As part of his ongoing hostile stance on Ukraine, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban organized a non-binding referendum on Ukraine's EU bid. He sees the result as a mandate to continue his anti-Ukraine policies. The trunk of the car is opened. Inside, a tied and bound young man struggles theatrically. Standing by the car is a woman. This is Alexandra Szentkiralyi, former government spokeswoman and now the best-known social media propagandist for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Speaking to the camera, she says, "I don't think you'd like this kind of thing to happen to you. Because with the fast EU accession of Ukraine come the organ dealers, the arms dealers, the drug dealers and the human traffickers." The reel, which was posted on Facebook and TikTok, is just 10 seconds long. People in Hungary have been bombarded with content such as this for over two months now — not only on the Internet, but also on pro-government Hungarian television channels. A steady stream of anti-Ukraine ads was broadcast on the radio, too, and in public spaces, billboards featured grim and sinister-looking images of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This was not simply just another one of Orban's many hate campaigns; it was the first to target an entire country and declare it a "mafia state." It was also the first Orban campaign to collectively dehumanize the citizens of a whole country and defame them as dangerous, merciless criminals who are allegedly out to destroy Hungary by trading in people, human organs, drugs and arms, by flooding the market with genetically modified foods, and by taking jobs, income, pensions and healthcare from Hungarian citizens. The objective of the consultation dubbed (Vote 2025) was that Hungarians would voice their opposition to Ukraine joining the EU. The vote ended on Saturday. On Thursday, Viktor Orban himself announced the result just before the EU summit in Brussels. He said that 2.27 million Hungarians had taken part, which is about a third of the Hungarian electorate, and that 95% had voted against Ukraine joining the EU. The prime minister said that he had come to Brussels "with a strong mandate," adding that "with the voice of over two million Hungarians" he could say that he does not support Ukrainian EU accession. As with all previous campaigns orchestrated by Orban — such as the one against migrants or the one against George Soros, a US billionaire with Hungarian Jewish roots — it is not possible to verify whether this result is real or not. The Hungarian government did not permit independent monitoring of the voting process or an independent public vote count. In a similar survey, which was recently organized by Hungary's largest opposition party, Tisza (Respect and Freedom), 58% declared their support for Ukraine joining the bloc. Many responses in Hungary seem to indicate that a considerable proportion of the population see the campaign as excessive, false, dishonest or a diversionary tactic. Some videos — including the car trunk video featuring Alexandra Szentkiralyi — have been used for hundreds of ironic or sarcastic memes on social media that attack the Orban system, its propaganda and the corruption scandals in which it is implicated. Countless social media posts — including critical comments on Victor Orban's Facebook and TikTok channels — also show that many Hungarians find the prime minister's anti-Ukraine campaign morally reprehensible and dishonest. Just a few days ago, a group of 50 well-known academics, artists, writers, former politicians and high-ranking civil servants — including former Foreign Minister Geza Jeszenszky and former head of the National Bank Peter Akos Bod — published a "letter to the people of Ukraine" in which they condemned Orban's propaganda and declared their solidarity with Ukraine. Despite such responses, it seems extremely unlikely that there will be a U-turn in the anti-Ukraine policy of Orban and his government. It is also barely conceivable that Orban's power and propaganda apparatus would moderate its tone even a little or stop peddling certain narratives — such as its claim that the war crimes committed in Bucha were staged by the Ukrainian army. The reason for this is that Ukraine has already become a major issue in the campaign for the parliamentary election that is due to take place in spring 2026. The ruling majority has alleged that the opposition Tisza party, which is way ahead of Orban's Fidesz party in the polls, is funded by Ukraine and Brussels. It also claims that Tisza's goal is to assume power in Hungary, sell out the country and plunge it into a war with Russia. Government propaganda also regularly refers to Peter Magyar, the leader of Tisza, as "Ukraine Pete." The Hungarian government also accuses another well-known Tisza politician, former Chief of the Hungarian Defense Forces Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, of being a Ukrainian spy. It has not provided any evidence to back up this claim. Pro-government media even claim that the Ukrainian salute "Slava Ukraini!" (Glory to Ukraine!) is being used as a Tisza party slogan. With this policy, Orban has unquestionably done irreparable damage to Hungarian–Ukrainian relations for as long as he remains in power. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian government have thus far made either no comment on Orban's policy or only issued carefully worded, diplomatic statements. But this recently changed. In his first interview with a Hungarian media outlet, the independent conservative portal Valasz Online, Zelenskyy in early June criticized Orban's use of Ukraine for his election campaign. "He does not understand that this will have much more serious and dangerous consequences: the radicalization of Hungarian society and its anti-Ukrainian sentiment," said Zelenskyy, adding that by not helping Ukraine, Orban is doing Russian President Vladimir Putin a favor, which, said Zelenskyy, is a "serious, historic mistake." The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also issued its first explicitly critical statement on Tuesday. In it, the ministry referred to the "manipulative intention" behind the "Vote 2025" initiative, adding that during the campaign, which lasted several months, "Hungarian officials have been inventing non-existent threats allegedly coming from Ukraine in order to unjustifiably intimidate Hungarian citizens." The goal of this "anti-Ukraine hysteria" was, it said, to divert attention away from the failures of the government's socio-economic policy. However, the Ukrainian ministry said it was "confident that the overwhelming majority of Hungarian citizens are capable of recognizing this primitive manipulation."
Budapest Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Hidvéghi: Magyar is ignoring views of two million Hungarians to please his masters in Brussels
Referring to the government's survey regarding whether Ukraine should be allowed to join the European Union, Balázs Hidvéghi, the parliamentary state secretary of the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office, said opposition Tisza Party leader Péter Magyar is ignoring the views of two million Hungarians to please his 'masters in Brussels'. Hidvéghi said in a post on Facebook that Magyar's party had itself conducted a survey of voters on the same question 'on the orders of Brussels', and this revealed that Tisza 'supports Ukraine's accession to the EU'. The Fidesz politician added that twice as many people voted in the government's Vote 2025 as in the Tisza party survey. The results of Vote 2025 will be certified by a notary, he added. Meanwhile, Magyar said in a statement today that Vote 2025 was 'government propaganda' and 'a total failure'. He cited information from the Hungarian Post Office suggesting that 3-7 percent of postal survey papers sent out were returned by voters. This would equal around 500,000 people who returned their responses by mail. Furthermore, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister's Office, told a government news briefing that the responses cast online 'were negligible compared with the number of those returned on paper', he added.
