An animal is at its most dangerous when it is wounded, and the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, was already haemorrhaging supporters before a record number of people took to the streets on Saturday to support Budapest Pride, which his government had legally banned in March.

The pulsating, international, love-fuelled parade, which stretched more than a mile through Budapest’s most prominent landmarks, was everything the Hungarian far right hates. And for Orbán and his nationalist party, Fidesz, the public defiance of Pride organisers, European diplomats and those of us who filled the streets in spite of threats of facial-recognition surveillance, arrests and fines has dented his strongman reputation.

A general election in Hungary is slated for April 2026. In Péter Magyar, the leader of the main opposition party, Tisza, Orbán is up against his toughest political opponent since gaining power in 2010, and at present he’s doing badly. Polls from June put Orbán 15 points behind Magyar. But western democracies would be wise to keep their guard up during Orbán’s laboured, last breaths in power. Boxed into a corner, he will be looking to ignite a new fight against a common enemy.

We can expect a more vicious, angry assault on LGBTQ rights in Hungary. He will lead a louder rallying cry against European interference in the........

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