Sawt Falasteen - Orban says police will not disperse Budapest Pride march

Orban's ruling coalition amended laws and the constitution earlier this year to prohibit the annual celebration, advancing his widely condemned, years-long clampdown on LGBTQ rights in the name of "child protection".

Last week, police banned the Pride march from taking place in Budapest, citing recent legal changes forbidding the promotion or display of homosexuality to under-18s.

But organisers, including the Budapest city hall, disputed the legality of the decision and pledged the parade would go ahead. The ban has drawn international condemnation.

"Of course, the police could break up such events, because they have the authority to do so, but Hungary is a civilised country, a civic society. We don't hurt each other," Orban told state radio during his weekly interview on Friday.

"There will be legal consequences, but it cannot reach the level of physical abuse."

Attendees risk a fine of up to 500 euros ($580) with police empowered to use facial recognition technology to identify them.

Organisers could face a one-year prison sentence.

- 'Wider push' -

However, opposition Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony insisted during a briefing with visiting EU equalities commissioner Hadja Lahbib that no attendee can face any reprisals as the march is a municipal event and does not require police approval.

"The police have only one task tomorrow, and it is a serious one: to ensure the safety of Hungarian and European citizens attending the event," Karacsony told journalists, warning that far-right actors could be emboldened by the government to disrupt the Pride march.

Far-right groups have announced multiple counterprotests along the planned route of the procession.

Dozens of EU lawmakers are expected to attend the Pride parade, as well as ministers and mayors from multiple European Union countries, according to the organisers.

Lahbib said she is still assessing whether to participate given her role as commissioner, but assured the Hungarian LGBTQ community of the EU's support.

"These attacks are part of a wider push to roll back progress and undo the rights that generations before us fought for," the Belgian commissioner told journalists.

"The right to gather peacefully is one of those rights. It must be protected and upheld across the European Union," she added.

Organisers hope Saturday's Pride march will see a record turnout of more than 35,000 to signal a strong rebuke of Orban's anti-LGBTQ policies.

Hungary's nationalist premier on Friday rejected calls from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to reverse the ban, comparing her to late Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.

"She considers Hungary a subordinate country and she thinks she can dictate to Hungarians from Brussels how they should live, what they should like, what they should dislike, what their legal system should be like, what should be banned and what should not be. Exactly like Brezhnev," Orban said.

J.AbuHassan--SF-PST