The Hungarian festival was banned after police voiced concerns, ostensibly about traffic disruption.

Although permission had already been granted for the event, the organisers applied for an extension to the usual route to allow them to march past parliament. They were hoping to protest on the new Hungarian constitution, which includes a ban on gay marriage. They then agreed to halt the march before it reached parliament, but were told the event had been cancelled entirely. The organising Rainbow Mission Foundation, assisted by the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, have appealed to the Budapest Metropolitan Court against the Budapest Police resolution.

Tamas Dombos, a member of Hungarian gay rights group Hatter Support Society, has suggested that the march will eventually be allowed to take place along a different route. However, he stresses that the route was picked for a specific reason: “The organisers decided to make the event more political than in previous years. We need the march to end in front of parliament in order to increase our visibility.”

Amnesty International has also condemned the ban, calling it disproportionate. In a statement, it said, “Diversity and tolerance, equality before the law for all, no discrimination on sexual orientation and gender identity grounds, are all messages that LGBT rights activists are planning to take to the streets of Budapest on 18 June 2011. The authorities are obliged by international law to enable them to do so.”

The European Commission also issued a statement, saying it has “no legal authority to intervene in how member states organise public meetings. When implementing national law, member states must respect fundamental rights, including freedom of expression and assembly, as required by their own constitutional order and international obligations.”

In the 2010 election, the far-right Fidesz party won an outright majority. Since then they have pledged to protect family values in the country, and have proposed an amendment to the constitution which would effectively ban gay marriage by legitimatising only those between a man and a woman.

There have been scenes of violence at Budapest Pride in the past. In 2007 the march was marred by fascists throwing petrol bombs and shouting abuse at peaceful protestors. In 2008 police had to use tear gas and water cannon to clear a route for marchers to leave after a demonstration against them.