The streets of Budapest are alive with colour and defiance today. Thousands are marching in the first Pride parade since Viktor Orban’s departure from power, and the sight is a bloody triumph for liberal values that the British public should be proud to champion. But let’s not pop the champagne just yet.
This is a moment of fragile hope, not victory. Sources on the ground confirm that the atmosphere is electric but tense. Police have cordoned off the route, yet counter-protesters lurk in side streets.
The far-right, though weakened, is not dead. Ten years of Orban’s ‘illiberal democracy’ left deep scars: a homophobic media, laws that painted LGBTQ+ people as predators, and a judiciary stacked with loyalists. Today’s march is a testament to the resilience of Hungarian activists who fought tooth and nail for this day.
The new centrist government, elected on a promise to restore EU norms, has allowed the parade to proceed under tight security. But documents uncovered by my team reveal that the interior ministry quietly tried to ban it, only to be overruled by the prime minister’s office. That tells you how fragile this tolerance is.
The real story here is the money. Orban’s regime funnelled millions into ‘family protection’ NGOs that fuelled anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment. Those organisations are now scrambling to rebrand or dissolve, but the trail leads to offshore accounts in Cyprus and the Seychelles.
My sources are digging deeper. The British government has been keen to claim credit for this shift, and rightly so: our diplomats pushed for sanctions on Orban’s cronies and funded civil society groups. But let’s not kid ourselves.
Budapest’s Pride would not be happening today without the courage of Hungarians who refused to be erased. As the parade reaches Heroes’ Square, there is joy, yes, but also a grim determination. This is not the end of the fight.
It is the beginning of a new one. The old guard is still entrenched in the judiciary, the media, and the economy. They will not go quietly.
The message from Budapest is clear: liberty is never given, it is taken, and it must be defended every single day. For Britain, this is a reminder that our values are worth fighting for, even when the fight is abroad. We may have our own battles with the far-right, but today, we stand with the marchers.
The rainbow flag flies over the Danube. Long may it wave.
