Urgent action regarding the upcoming Pride in the Hungarian city of

Dear President,

As Presidents of the Greens/EFA, S&D, Renew Europe and the Left Groups, we are writing to express our deep concern regarding the deteriorating state of the right to assembly in Hungary. After the Hungarian authorities banned the Budapest Pride, the only one Hungarian countryside Pride in Pécs was banned as well. As opposed to Budapest, where the mayor and the organizers found a way to still make the march very successful, the Pride in Pécs is in an even bigger danger, given the fact that it’s a smaller town with much less tools to protect the participants and their right to assembly.

In a decision of September 5, 2025, the police issued a ban on the Pride in Pécs on October 4, 2025. On September 14, 2025, the Kúria upheld the ban on the Pride in Pécs , making it definitive. The Kúria also dismissed the request to turn to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling, concluding that the facts of the case are not related to any EU norm.

In pending Case C-769/22, the Commission argues that by prohibiting children from accessing “content which promotes or portrays gender identities that do not correspond to the sex assigned at birth, sex reassignment or homosexuality”, Hungary has infringed a number of provisions of the TEU and TFEU, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and secondary legislation.

The prohibition of LGBTIQ rights assemblies not only targets the rights of the LGBTIQ community but also represents a broader attack on civil liberties and the fundamental right to peaceful assembly, thus representing a risk of imminent and irreparable harm, and puts the participants of the Pécs Pride in danger.

In light of these developments, and given the urgency of the situation, we request the Commission to assess the compatibility of Paragraph 13/A of Act LV of 2018 on the right to assembly with EU law, to examine whether the bans on assemblies like the Pride in Pécs are compatible with EU law and fundamental rights, and to take necessary steps as soon as possible if shortcomings are identified. We call upon the Commission to ensure that the human and fundamental rights of the participants of the Pécs Pride are respected. Additionally, we request the Commission to urgently examine the legal provisions allowing the use of facial recognition technologies in the context of assemblies in Hungary and to clarify their compliance with the AI Act, in particular Article 5, and, if non-compliance is found, to ensure appropriate follow-up measures are undertaken as soon as possible. Taking such action would reaffirm the President and the Union’s commitment to safeguarding the right to peaceful assembly as well as the rights of the LGBTIQ people and send a clear message that the European Union remains committed to defending its core values and protecting the rights of all its citizens.

We thank you for your attention to this matter.

Yours sincerely,
Terry REINTKE and Bas EICKHOUT, Greens/EFA
Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ, S&D
Valérie HAYER, Renew Europe
Manon AUBRY and Martin SCHIRDEWAN, The Left