On 11 February 1945, The Red Army closed in on Budapest. All hope was lost for the Nazis controlling the besieged city. Indeed, across the entire continent of Europe the writing was on the wall that the result of the catastrophic war which had engulfed Europe for the past 6 years was not going to go in favour of the Nazis. As Budapest was about to be taken by the Soviet Army, a group of German Waffen-SS soldiers together with Hungarian troops, launched an ill-fated breakout attempt from the encircled city.
Two days later, on 13 February, and after weeks of combat which saw tens of thousands killed, The Red Army captured Budapest.
Hungary’s capital had been completely destroyed by war. For most historians, the episode is another tragic chapter in the catastrophic endgame of the Second World War. However, In the post war period, the siege of Budapest became a staple of far-right mythology in Europe. In the 1990s, this breakout attempt by the last remaining Nazi forces in the city became known as the “Day of Honour” to Hungarian neo-Nazis who sought to glorify the fallen soldiers of the Reich.
The “Day of Honour”
Every year the “Day of Honour” draws networks of extremists from across the continent. Countries such as Germany, Italy, Sweden, Russia and beyond, have all had some of their most violent and radical far-right groups attend this demonstration, making it one of the most persistent and internationally connected manifestations of European far-right mobilisation in the post-Cold War era.
The day has also grown in notoriety over the years. Not merely for the quantity of participants but for the way it functions simultaneously as a commemoration and a networking event for extremists. In 2025, journalists estimated that thousands participated in a memorial hike from Buda castle. These types of events take place throughout the days leading up to the “Day of Honour” demonstration.
Attendance includes groups like Blood&Honour and Combat 18, who see the failed 1945 breakout as a foundational myth and as a last defence of western civilisation against the spectre of communism and Soviet domination. This narrative is central to transnational far-right identity and is widely considered an act of historical revisionism that is used by these radical groups to air their political grievances.
An International Event
The first “Day of Honour” rally was organised in 1997 by the Hungarian National Front. It attracted around 150 participants, mostly from Hungary. By 2003 the event had grown and the international neo-Nazi group Blood & Honour took over the organisational duties. This period saw the event begin to stabilize and expand. Blood & Honour was officially banned in Hungary in 2004 but the group’s symbolism, such as the strange, malshaped swastika they are associated with, continues to be present at the rally.
In recent years, Legio Hungaria have taken a leading role in organising the event. Founded in 2018, it describes itself as a “national resistance movement” dedicated to preserving what it describes as Hungary’s ethnic and cultural integrity. Legio Hungaria would be considered to be on the more extreme end of Hungary’s far right, openly venerating historical fascist figures, engaging in paramilitary-style activism, and maintaining ties to transnational neo-Nazi networks such as The Nordic Resistance Movement and Hammerskins.
Legio Hungaria transformed the “Day Of Honour” into the large international event it is today. They also navigated legal restrictions around hosting an open neo-Nazi demo through rebranding certain aspects of the event such as hosting “memorial hikes”. Beyond the march itself, Legio Hungaria has been involved in street mobilisations, intimidation campaigns and has been central in the broader infrastructure of Hungary’s far right.
The estimated 4,000 participants who took part in the 2025 “memorial hike” procession through Budapest, were accompanied by banners, emblems and speeches. One attendee, identified only as Zsolt, told AFP reporters at the time that he came “to honour the heroes… the real Hungarians who defended the city.”
That framing of “heroes” resisting an existential threat is central to the symbolic logic of the event. To many of the far-right participants it is a rare space where their worldview is legitimated and supported.
State Sponsorship
The international dimension of the Day of Honour underscores this. Unlike far-right demonstrations that remain largely national and insulated, the Budapest gathering draws organisers and attendees from multiple European countries year after year. This is what makes the event more than just a commemoration, but a mass-networking event for Europe’s neo-Nazi scene.
In March 2024, MEPs Daniel Freund and Terry Reintke submitted a written question to the European Commission noting that “neo-Nazi marches glorifying National Socialism” are held annually in Budapest and that thousands travel from all over Europe to take part. They noted that swastikas and other Nazi symbols are openly worn. The question further raised concern over alleged Hungarian state sponsorship of the event through Government ministries and the Military History Museum, which provides space and memorabilia.
That the question had to be asked at the level of the European Parliament speaks to a broader tension in how the event is perceived versus how it is policed. Hungarian authorities have periodically attempted to ban or restrict gatherings connected to the “Day of Honour”. In 2022 the Supreme Court upheld a police ban on that year’s neo-Nazi parade, citing concerns that it could inspire extremism and harm public order.
Nevertheless, unauthorized marches continued to take place despite the ban. Hungary’s government, who have openly been criticised for far-right and authoritarian tendencies, have not seemed very serious about enforcing the ban.
Police responses during the event window tend to be heavy but controlled. At a press briefing, officials reported increased controls across central Budapest including surveillance of nightclubs frequented by known extremists, checks on underpasses and cooperation with foreign police forces following the arrests of foreign nationals connected to prior disturbances. It is worth noting that these measures also apply to the many anti-fascist groups who come from across Europe to demonstrate against the event.
In fact, it seems to be more common for counter protesting groups to be stopped on the Hungarian border and denied entry than it is for far-right groups. In 2024, authorities arrested more than 300 individuals in connection with extremist affiliations and weapons offences. This included both “Day of Honour” participants and anti-fascist counter protestors.
Unequal Laws
Police decline to intervene consistently against neo-Nazi symbolism at the march even as they enforce laws banning uniformed protest or totalitarian symbols. This uneven enforcement has . drawn criticism from scholars and civil society
The “Day of Honour” march has provoked resistance, more often from the left than the centre. The most notable moment of resistance, and one which drew international attention to the event, occurred in 2023 when clashes took place across Budapest between far-left and far-right activists.
Many of these activists had come from across Europe, and the level of violence shocked many in Hungary. A brutal video surfaced from CCTV footage showing a member of Legio Hungaria being viciously beaten by a gang of masked anti-fascists. The incident drew widespread condemnation from many centrist and right-wing commentators, with many on the left claiming that it was a necessary act to counter neo-Nazi extremists.
The Hungarian authorities launched an international manhunt for the anti-fascists involved and many had to go into hiding across Europe as police forces from Germany, France and Italy assisted the Hungarian police in finding the perpetrators.
The whole incident became known as the “Budapest Affair” and lasted for over two years, with trials still ongoing.
German activist Maja T face a controversial trial in Hungary. The nonbinary anti-fascist activist was alleged to have been involved in the violence and was facing 24 years in prison in Hungary. On 4 February 2026, Maja was sentenced to eight years in prison, a verdict that can still be appealed. Whilst people like Maja would have known the risks involved with any sort of violent direct action, a multiple year sentence for beating someone seems wildly disproportionate.
Many activists across Europe are now facing extradition to Hungary for their role in the affair.
One of the most high-profile figures to emerge from the aftermath of the 2023 clashes was Ilaria Salis, an Italian anti-fascist activist arrested in Budapest and accused of participating in assaults linked to the “Day of Honour”. Her prison conditions drew international attention after images showing her being brought to court handcuffed and shackled prompted criticism from Italian politicians, human rights groups, and the European Parliament over Hungary’s pre-trial detention conditions.
Salis was held for more than a year before being released in 2024 after winning a seat in the European Parliament which granted her parliamentary immunity and forced Hungarian authorities to suspend proceedings. Hungary is still seeking to extradite her for trial.
A Growing Trend
The “Day of Honour” does not exist in isolation. It sits within an ecosystem of increasing far-right politics that has flourished across Hungary under the governance of Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party.
The official state narrative on WWII in Hungary has shifted over time. There is more emphasis put on the Hungarian people suffering at the hands of both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, whereas traditionally the Nazis were generally accepted as the main aggressors and perpetrators of that conflict. This new emphasis helps to create a discursive space within which the far right’s appropriation of history can find liminal legitimacy.
It is worth noting that the context in which this narrative has grown is largely down to Hungary being under the thumb of a harsh Communist regime up until the late 1980s.
The memories of that period’s terror are still fresh in the minds of many, whilst the horrors inflicted by the Nazis have been forgotten by many.
The “Day of Honour” is an interesting case study in how far-right politics now operates across borders and political systems. Global trends are seeing a growing normalisation of far-right events and symbolism, including many that would have been unthinkable in the post WWII era up until now.
While across the pond, the US American far right has, particularly under Donald Trump, tended toward mass spectacle, personality-driven mobilisation and rapid cycles of escalation and collapse, its European counterparts have often pursued a slower and more institutional strategy.
The Budapest march exemplifies this divergence. It is not designed to win elections or dominate headlines but to gradually build networks and normalise extremist talking points. As far-right parties gain parliamentary footholds across the western world and extremist subcultures continue to organise transnationally, the “Day of Honour” illustrates how radicalism no longer depends on sudden breakthroughs or charismatic leaders to endure.
