29/01/2026 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday, 29 January, Mathias De Clercq, the mayor of Ghent and president of Eurocities (an association of European cities), objected to the legal proceedings that the Hungarian justice system has brought against Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony for organising and leading the Budapest ‘Pride March’ in June 2025 despite a police ban. “The fact that a political disagreement about something as fundamental as the freedom to be who you want to be leads to prosecution should, once again, raise serious concerns about the state of democracy in Hungary”, he commented. The Renew Europe group in the European Parliament had, on 28 January, reacted as well. Renew Europe Chair Valérie Hayer (French) declared, “Criminalising an elected mayor for defending freedom of assembly and equal rights is another attempt to turn Hungary away from Europe, towards Moscow”. (SP)