The march began at Budapest City Hall and wound through the city center before crossing the capital's Erzsébet Bridge over ...

Beneath a blaze of rainbow flags and amid roars of defiance, big crowds gathered in the Hungarian capital Budapest for the ...

Critics see the move to ban the march scheduled for this weekend as part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms.

More than 100,000 people marched from Budapest City hall and wound through the city center before crossing the capital's Erzsébet Bridge over the Danube River.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party enacted the ban, but Budapest’s mayor allowed the event to go on. The police sat on the sidelines.

Laszlo Laner, 69, was an organizer of Budapest’s first Pride in 1997 and played an active role in Hungary’s gay movement after the collapse of the Communist regime in 1989.

Earlier this week, 33 embassies in Budapest, including the Embassy of Ireland, signed a joined statement in support of Budapest Pride and Hungary’s LGBTIQ+ community.