Political Protests in Budapest

The protests are because Orban is trying to ban Budapest’s Pride parade which is scheduled for June 28. . September is 2+ months after that.

Yes, if you subscribe to the STEP warnings, Budapest sounds scary. Ha! Basically people gather on the weekend when they are off to make their feelings known. No protests like we think about them and they are orderly, announced ahead of time, and very avoidable if you want to since the location is announced.

[OP] He is very concerned about the political protests going on in Budapest now .....

Welcome to Europe. I would like to say getting out and protesting is a Hungarian thing, but its really a European thing. "Now" there are no protests and none in the immediate forecast. As TexasTravelMom suggests you can follow the STEP notices and they are pretty accurate.

[OP] .... now in opposition to Orban.

Sometimes (often) is opposition to Orban, sometimes in opposition to government policies but not so much Obran. Over the years quite a few pro-Ukraine and anti-russia gatherings .... G-d bless them

[Kenko] The protests are because Orban is trying to ban Budapest’s Pride
parade which is scheduled for June 28. . September is 2+ months after
that.

That an incomplete description of reality here. If you want to know a place you really gota do a heck of a lot of research ... and even then .... That was one of a half dozen protests this month (generally we have one or less a month, but March is special for a lot of reasons). The turn out was less than 2% of all those that turned out for protests this month.

There were about 6 in March from the STEP advisories, but there may have been other smaller ones. For instance I saw about 10 Jewish individuals carrying signs through District ViI a few days ago. No idea for what, I dont read Hungarian.

2nd
Support of students protesting in Serbia which was expected to attract less than 200 people

8th
Promoting social support for health was expected to attract less than 5000 people. This was not a protest, but a support movement.

15th
The largest protests (2 significant ones) took place on on this date which is a national holiday commemorating the revolution of 1848. The largest was an anti-Orban protest on Andrassy ut which may have had 20.000+ at it (for scale most NBA arenas hold about 20.000 spectators). The one last year seemed larger. I live two blocks off Andrassy ut and could hear the speeches and the music from my living room. They do these things up right. Even antigovernment protests are given permits to do so. The government took care of traffic control for the event. They erect stages for the speakers and put in sound systems and its a heck of a party for a few hours. Then everyone goes home.

18th
The one Kenko referenced which was expected to attract less than 400 people
To protest a change in the assembly law was expected to attract less than 200 people

EDIT 26th
This one slipped through the STEP notificatios because it was illegal and somewhat spontanious. A gay rights / freedom to assemble rally at Pest end of the Erzsébet Bridge messed with traffic for about 90 minutes. About 2000 in attendance probalby because of the broad nature of the subject. The most violet activity was a few rainbow colored smoke flares.

I havent heard of any violent incidents at any of the events. It’s been years since I heard of anyone getting hurt at one of these. Might have happened and I just missed it. This is nothing to compare with Belgrade or Tblisi where the people have been in the streets for months. And unlike those countries and other places like Bratislava where the protests have to be done in violation of the law, these were all properly permitted by the government, they last a few hours and then everyone goes home.

The best advice is to avoid them when you see them. Thats always very, very easy ..... On the other hand, if you stay a few yards back so you aren’t in the center of it and dont become associated with it, its an interesting experience.

Do sign up for the State Department STEP advisories. It’s a good tool to use to learn about a country. The advisories aren’t "bad" they demonstrate the trends in the country.

And since the subject got started, in the event the OP or any future reader is interested, here is a bit more context and information.

Hungary is a “Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions” category country with US State Department https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/

For comparison “Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution” countries include: Spain, UK, Kosovo, Albania, BiH, Turkey, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, France, Armenia, Serbia and Belgium.

In 20+ years of either traveling here or living here I have heard of exactly one violent crime against a tourist (committed by another tourist) and two incidents of theft from a tourist. Both thefts could have been avoided with a little care. I am certain there have been others but when you consider there have been over 100 million tourists in those 20 years and that the news media loves to hype this sort of thing so very little goes under reported, it’s a safe place to visit.

But don’t be careless either. Keep your passport on you but well tucked away in or under your clothing. Obey the laws. Know how the public transportation system works and do it correctly (easy, ask if you don’t know). I wouldn’t worry too much about what time of night you return home. Street crime is almost unheard of especially in the areas you will be. If a young lady tries to pick you up outside a bar, decline. On crowded metro or tram or buses you might want to keep you hand in your pocket over your wallet and phone. I do that. But again, I have never met a person that was a victim of a pickpocket in Budapest. I just know it must happen from time to time. Why push fate.

Don’t worry about how Americans are received in the current climate of American politics. I live here, I have friends and acquaintances here, I havent been asked or treated differently this year. To assume things would be worse demonstrates a lack of understanding of how complex the topic is here and in most countries in Europe. Not everyone agrees.

I had no issues in Budapest last September. One day I walked nine miles and around the Buda Hills. Then one day from Keleti Station back to my B&B in Pest a couple blocks from the river. The Danube was having record floods when I was there so there was disruption but everyone was orderly. People were all out taking selfies with the floods as a backdrop. Since it was early Fall the sun set fairly early and each evening I was out and about after dark with no issues.

BUDAPEST, March 25 (Reuters) - Thousands of people protested in
Budapest on Tuesday against a new law that aims to ban the annual
Pride march by LGBTQ+ communities and allows the use of facial
recognition software to identify organizers and attendees. Hungary's
parliament passed a law proposed by ruling Fidesz party lawmakers last
week to ban the Pride march on the grounds that it could be harmful to
children.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who faces an unprecedented challenge from
a new surging opposition party ahead of 2026 elections, has criticised
the LGBTQ+ community and pledged to crack down on foreign funding of
independent media and non-governmental organizations in Hungary in
recent weeks as part of his campaign.

Some find this concerning.

Happy travels.

David, very much so.

I had already added it to the list above. It's worth anyone's time to look into it prior to coming here. But beyond saying that, it's hard to discuss without breaking one of the forum rules. Maybe it deseeves a stand alone thread, cause its off this topic. But I would rather a PM to share what I know and some context. Too much political stuff lately.

David, that SHOULD be of concern — but not for current tourist safety reasons.