(ANSA) - TRIESTE, JUN 28 - Record numbers of participants are expected at the Pride march in the Hungarian capital Budapest, defying a ban imposed by Viktor Orban's government that marks an unprecedented regression of Lgbtq rights in the European Union. 'Bella Ciao' is sung at the Budapest Pride parade with Schlein. Elly Schlein along with many other protesters is chanting 'Bella Ciao' at the Pride parade in Budapest. Several placards against EU commission chairwoman Ursula Von der Leyen: "Ursula, protect Orban or democracy" is one of the signs. There were also many T-shirts against Orban and in favor of Lgbti+ rights. At 3:43 p.m. the Budapest Pride started, center-left leaders in attendance. Leading the procession was the city's mayor, Gergely Karácsony, who was greeted by a standing ovation from the crowd. The large delegation of European center-left MPs and MEPs also joined the procession. Earlier, political leaders including Elly Schlein, Carlo Calenda, and Spanish Vice Premier Jolanda Diaz had remained in the garden of the city hall for over an hour. The procession advanced in a festive atmosphere amid flags, chants and dancing. The ultra-right shortly before the start of the parade blocked the bridge in Budapest: militants of the extremist Hungarian party Patria Nostra blocked the Szabadsag Bridge, a stop on the planned Pride route, with cars. Police did not intervene. Schlein: "We are here for freedom and democracy. You cannot ban love by law. You cannot erase people's identity, our bodies, we are people we have rights. Banning pride is a violation of European constitutional rights." Pd leader Elly Schlein said this at a press conference alongside the chairwoman of the S&d group in the European Parliament, Iratxe Garcia Perez a few hours before the Budapest pride. "In my country, laws against homophobia are being blocked in Italy: we must fight together. The shame is the homophobes not us demonstrating." He then concluded his speech with 'No pasaran,' the watchword of Spanish Republicans at the time of the Civil War. A far-right demonstration began this morning with police authorization on the same square in front of City Hall where Pride participants were to gather later. Another demonstration by the extremist Our Fatherland (Mi Hazank) party is scheduled to take place on the same announced route as Pride, and a party deputy Elod Novak threatened to close the Szabadsag (Freedom) Bridge over which the procession intends to pass, which has since happened. "If the police do nothing to prevent the Lbgt march, we will do it with our own means," he said. +Europa, in Budapest to defend freedom across the EU. "This year, the Hungarian government banned Budapest Pride, after years of intensifying restrictions on freedom. The ban is not just an attack on a community, but an attack on personal freedoms, peaceful assembly and European values. This is an attack on the freedom we represent. Silence is not an option, today we are in the streets alongside Momentum and the Hungarian people to defend all the freedoms we all talk about." More Europe secretary Riccardo Magi and president Matteo Hallissey, who is leading the +E delegation to Budapest Pride, write this in a note. "Civil liberties are not national, they are European. When rights are dismantled in one EU country, the whole Union is weakened," they conclude. Calenda, in Budapest against Orban's authoritarian drift. "Europe is founded on the rule of law, the protection of the right to demonstrate peacefully and to love who you want regardless of gender. Today I am in Budapest to testify that liberals do not silently accept Orban's proputinian and authoritarian drift." Action leader Carlo Calenda, who is at the Budapest Pride, writes this on X. Police installed surveillance cameras along the entire announced Pride route to recognize participants and sanction them using the electronic facial recognition system, in accordance with Prime Minister Viktor Orban''s warning of "legal consequences" for participants. The system had so far never been used in Hungary. Observers doubt whether the system is working properly. "This government has failed to handle much less complex systems, such as waiting lists in public health care," noted Gabor Horn of the Republicon Institute. However, the Lgbt community has promised legal assistance to any sanctioned persons to appeal the fines in court. "An image of the facial recognition system will be insufficient as evidence against a court," said a community lawyer. According to the EU Greens, 'not Pride but its ban is illegal': fundamental rights cannot be outlawed. We are here to support the Hungarians and in particular the courage of the mayor of Budapest who fought for this event to be held. We do not want European democracy to evolve into an autocracy." Green co-chair Terry Reintke said this at the joint press conference in Budapest. For Renew, the EU incomplete if a state does not defend democracy. "Being here is not a symbolic act but a political act: we are here to defend the dignity of the Hungarian people, their right to fight against the Orban regime. Europe is not complete if one of its members closes the democratic space." This was said by the president of the liberal group Renew Europe Valérie Hayer at the joint press conference in Budapest. (ANSA).