Recalling the first LGBT+ pride parade she took part in about eight years ago in Budapest, Luca Dudits vividly remembers the disturbing encounter with right-wing dissenters as the crowd boarded trams to return through the Hungarian capital. An intimidating and distressing experience, the counter-protesters pelted the participants with rotten food items and stones, necessitating police intervention at each tram stop.
In contrast, just last month, Dudits (26), who is associated with Hatter, the most established Hungarian LGBT+ support group, reports that approximately 30,000 people proudly marched the streets during Budapest’s Pride without a police escort. Once terrorised, the LGBT+ community has gradually started gaining acceptance in recent years. However, she also highlights increasing hardships due to policies conceived by Hungary’s current right-wing nationalist government.
Having maintained his position as Hungary’s prime minister from 2010, Viktor Orban has reshaped the nation substantially. His time in power has seen a targeted crackdown on civil society groups, a hardened stance on immigration, reduction of LGBT+ rights, and a severe undermining of media freedom.
The current administration has issued prohibitions preventing transgender individuals from legally altering their gender and has clamped restrictions on the access to LGBT+ books and sex education in schools. Furthermore, the persistent categorization of the community as a threat to children reflects the government’s effort in eliminating LGBTQI presence from public view, states Dudits.
Fejer Sari, a 22-year-old psychology student working part-time at a café, relayed how life in Hungary has propelled many of her contemporaries to emigrate. Acquiring their qualification in Hungary, these individuals choose to leave subsequently, she shared.
Moreover, Orban’s actions have gradually become a source of vexation to the rest of the European Union. His transactional political approach sees him as withholding solidarity for unanimous decisions, with the intention of gaining advantages in return.
The country, home to 9.6 million inhabitants, has emerged as a chief supporter of Israel in its conflict with Hamas and is often the singular obstructer among the Union’s 27 nations, barring critical decisions like delivering much-needed assistance to Ukraine in its battle with Russia.
Various diplomats and officials from the European Union have frequently encountered resistance from Hungary during negotiations. The challenge they face lies in discerning whether the reasons Hungary presents for its opposition are authentic, or if their veto is utilised as a strategy for gaining leverage on another matter.
Viktor Orban, Hungarian Prime Minister, is personable and often engages in conversations about topics such as football during sideline chats at summits attended by EU leaders. Although he is affable, he is deemed to be an impediment in the decision-making process. Unlike the firm-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who collaborates with Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, Orban has opted for a more confrontational stance.
Andras Biro-Nagy, the head of a progressive Hungarian think-tank called Policy Solutions, expressed that Orban aspires to disrupt Europe’s balance of power and tilt it markedly towards the right. Despite his vast ambition to conquer Brussels, Biro-Nagy believes it’s a challenging task, especially after engaging in numerous disputes with European leaders and institutions. Orban’s frequent threats of vetoing are seen as his only means of achieving results at the European level.
Orban controversially delayed the disbursement of €50 billion in financial aid that was approved by other EU leaders for Ukraine, holding it hostage for several months. At present, he is obstructing an additional €6.6 billion. These actions have brought about discussions over potential changes in the requirement for foreign policy decisions to be unanimous, or alternative methods to bypass Hungary’s veto.
Hungary assumed the presidency of the Council of the EU earlier this month, a role that rotates every half-year and has significant influence over Brussels’ agenda. Typically, the country in this position aids in expediting policy. However, Orban’s recent contentious visit to Russia for a “peace” discussion on Ukraine with Vladimir Putin has been widely criticised. The timing of the visit, soon after Hungary took over the council presidency, was suspected as Orban’s attempt to politicise his role, which doesn’t typically involve negotiating on behalf of the EU internationally.
Following a trip to Russia, Hungarian leader Orban embarked on a visit to China Monday, where he encountered President Xi Jinping. His assessment of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, as communicated via a Facebook post, is that the future lies in the hands of three global authorities: the US, the EU and China.
While there’s no discounting of the potential dangers Russia poses, demonstrated by Orban’s moves to fortify the military via billboard recruitment campaigns, the Hungarian leader’s approach to the conflict tends to be more sympathetic to the Kremlin than his EU counterparts. His calls for peace suggest a territorial concession by Ukraine, surrendering large areas that have fallen to Russia since the hostilities in 2022.
Travelling beyond the boundaries of Budapest reveals a more conservative mindset. Rural locales, forming the voting stronghold of Orban’s political faction Fidesz, hold sway with funding allocated predominantly based on political affiliations. As described by Jozsef Peter Martin, executive director of Transparency International Hungary, village development is largely contingent on loyalty to the ruling party. The securing of governmental and EU funds for development purposes tails back to this loyalty.
Around €20 billion of EU funding earmarked for Hungary remains in limbo, due to apprehensions around the infringement of rights and compromise of law and order within the nation. Martin predicts the possibility of the ruling party, Fidesz, making attempts to unlock the withheld funds, but doubts an adequate response. He suggests that in any direct conflict between maintaining power and compliance with the rule of law, the former will win every time.
The anti-corruption organisation’s Hungarian division has recently become the subject of a law devised to counter external influence, identified by Martin as the latest episode of civil society clampdowns. Janos Boka, Hungary’s minister for European affairs, insists that the government isn’t involved in the probe. He dismisses allegations of LGBT+ community suppression, arguing that Hungary’s handling of this demographic isn’t peculiar among EU nations. He suggests the LGBT+ community doesn’t consider it necessary to “hide,” as evidence by the thousands that took part in the recent Budapest Pride.
Campaign placards remain visible on numerous central Budapest lampposts, following the European and local elections in June. The European Parliament elections saw Fidesz’s vote percentage fall to 44% – a disappointing outcome. Orban encountered a genuine competitor for the first time in a while in the form of Tisza, a party that had only been formed a few months prior and secured 29% of the vote.
Peter Magyar, a former Fidesz insider, established the party and began an opposition movement to call out the system’s corruption. Magyar managed to secure votes from the fragmented liberal and left-wing parties, and also attracted Fidesz supporters.
Biro-Nagy notes, “Tisza and Peter Magyar’s main challenge now is to transform this solo act into a legitimate political establishment.” The emerging opposition leader is undoubtedly focusing on the parliamentary elections scheduled for 2026. He speculates, “If Peter Magyar’s popularity continues to ascend… The competition might be fiercer than it has been in the past 14 years.”