Budapest, June 28 (LaPresse) – Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein, along with MEPs Alessandro Zan, Annalisa Corrado, Cecilia Strada, and Brando Benifei, arrived at Városháza Park for the Budapest Pride march, which has been banned this year by the Hungarian government.
The delegation also included Iratxe García Pérez, leader of the S&D (Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats) group in the European Parliament. They joined the Renew Europe delegation with Carlo Calenda.
“It is very important to be here to defend democracy and freedom. Here, the Pride ban is censorship and institutional discrimination. We cannot accept it, and that is why we chose to be physically present — to say that love cannot be banned by law, and that differences cannot be outlawed. In the European Union, when you touch the rights of one, you touch the rights of all,” said Schlein.
“We are here to express full solidarity with the Hungarian people and the LGBTQIA+ community. You cannot erase gender identity. You cannot erase our bodies — because they exist. And today we will embrace them so tightly together that the haters will not pass. No pasarán!” the Democratic leader later wrote on social media.
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