Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Budapest in defiance of the Hungarian government’s ban on Pride, heeding a call by the city’s mayor to “come calmly and boldly to stand together for freedom, dignity and equal rights”, writes Lili Rutai in Budapest and Ashifa Kassam.
Jubilant crowds packed into the city’s streets on Saturday, waving Pride flags and signs that mocked the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, as their peaceful procession inched forward at a snail’s pace.
Organisers estimated that a record number of people turned up, far outstripping the expected turnout of 35,000-40,000 people.
“We believe there are 180,000 to 200,000 people attending,” the president of Pride, Viktória Radványi told AFP. “It is hard to estimate because there have never been so many people at Budapest Pride.”
The mass demonstration against the government was a bittersweet marking of Budapest Pride’s 30th anniversary; while the turnout on Saturday was expected to reach record levels, it had come after the government had doubled down on its targeting of the country’s LGBTQ+ community.
Tens of thousands of students and anti-corruption protesters took part in a rally in Belgrade on Saturday, demanding snap elections and an end to the 12-year rule of president Aleksandar Vucic.
Police deployed scores of officers in riot gear around government buildings, parliament and nearby Pionirski Park, where throngs of Vucic’s backers from across the country gathered in a counter-protest.
The student protest is set to last until 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) at Slavija Square and Nemanjina Avenue, where most of the government offices are located.
The protesters, who want the government to heed their demands by the end of the protest, have pledged non-violence, Reuters reports.
