Hundreds of LGBTQ+ people and allies marched through the Romanian city of Oradea on Saturday, 25 July, despite local authorities refusing to authorise the event for the fourth consecutive year.
Organisers estimated that about 700 people joined the demonstration in the western city, defying warnings and fines to demand LGBTQ+ equality and defend the right to peaceful assembly.
Participants included representatives from European embassies, international organisations and local advocacy groups. Romania’s ombudsman, Renate Weber, also attended the march.
More Than 100 Routes Rejected
Oradea Pride was organised by local LGBTQ+ association Ark Oradea, which has attempted to secure permission for a public march each year since 2023.
Organisers reportedly submitted more than 100 possible routes for this year’s event. City authorities rejected every option, arguing that the proposed routes conflicted with other events or public infrastructure work.
“Every year the local authorities have managed to find legal or technical excuses to ban Oradea Pride events,” Ark Oradea co-founder and president Iulian Dițiu said ahead of the march.
Previous applications have been rejected on similarly technical grounds. In 2024, organisers were reportedly told that none of the city’s parks was available at the requested times. In 2025, all 12 proposed routes were deemed unsuitable.
The repeated refusals have made Oradea the only major city in the European Union reported to have systematically prevented an authorised Pride march from taking place.
Police Issue Fines Before March Begins
Romanian gendarmes began issuing fines before Saturday’s procession had set off.
Local reporting indicated that some participants faced penalties of up to €1,000 for joining the unauthorised demonstration. As officers issued the fines, marchers responded by singing the Icona Pop song I Love It, including its refrain: “I don’t care, I love it.”
Participants also chanted slogans including “Our rights cannot be stolen” and “A city with so many colourful buildings is afraid of a rainbow”.
Despite the penalties and significant police presence, the march continued peacefully through the city.
A similar unauthorised event in 2025 attracted between 500 and 600 people. Nine participants were later fined a combined total equivalent to about €4,000.
European Parliament Vice-President Condemns Response
Nicu Ștefănuță, a Romanian member and vice-president of the European Parliament, strongly criticised the authorities’ treatment of marchers.
“It is shameful for the Romanian state of the European unfreedoms what is happening now in Oradea. People from all over Europe and at least eight European embassies are marching. This shame won’t wash away easily,” he wrote on 25 July. Ștefănuță’s position as a European Parliament vice-president is confirmed by the institution’s official records.
“Romania has started to ban, fine, threaten people who protest peacefully. It seems that from the lesson of Hungary the Romanian state learned exactly the opposite: that he has to tighten the knot so that today’s bankrupt parties can keep power.”
Ștefănuță said responsibility extended beyond Oradea’s local authorities.
“It’s not just the mayor of the town,” he wrote. “The whole political class in Parliament and Government is to blame, which passively witnesses something that puts a black stain on the map of Europe.”
“These young people are not ‘some LGBT’, they are not ‘a minority’, they are exactly your children, the future of this state.”
Wider Concerns About Democratic Rights
More than 150 organisations from 30 countries signed a joint statement before the march calling on Oradea authorities to allow the event to proceed safely and in accordance with European law.
“After four consecutive years in which the Pride march has been unable to take place, there can be no question of administrative or logistical difficulties,” the statement said.
“When an authority consistently prevents a community from assembling peacefully, a principle that concerns all citizens is undermined.”
Dițiu has argued that the dispute extends beyond LGBTQ+ rights and raises broader concerns about democracy and freedom of assembly.
“This is not an LGBT issue. This is a democratic issue. It’s about the freedom to public assembly,” he said before the event.
“And if the local LGBT community here in Oradea can be denied this basic human right without any repercussion, it can happen pretty much anywhere in Europe, for pretty much any community.”
Organisers maintain that the authorities’ repeated technical explanations conceal opposition to LGBTQ+ visibility.
“It feels like the message that they are trying to send our way is that we’re not welcome here,” Dițiu said.
“They have never said out loud that they are banning Pride for LGBT reasons. They’re always hiding behind technical reasons.”
Saturday’s demonstration ultimately proceeded despite the refusal of official permission, with marchers accepting the possibility of fines to ensure that Oradea’s LGBTQ+ community remained visible.
For participants and supporters, the event became not only a Pride march but a test of whether peaceful assembly can be repeatedly denied through administrative decisions.
