Tens of thousands join Pride marches in Romania, Bulgaria to call for equality
Source: AP
By VESELIN TOSHKOV and STEPHEN McGRATH
Updated 2:27 PM CDT, June 13, 2026
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Tens of thousands of LGBTQ+ supporters took to the streets of Romania and Bulgaria’s capitals on Saturday for their annual Pride parades, against a backdrop of rising opposition from conservative groups in the Orthodox Christian countries.
Marchers walked through Bucharest in Romania and Sofia in Bulgaria, waving colorful flags and blowing whistles and calling for equality.
Both Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007. Ahead of accession to the bloc, both countries adopted human rights legislation to meet EU standards, despite public opinion polls often indicating a lack of support for the community compared with other EU countries.
In ILGA-Europe’s 2025 Rainbow Map, which assesses the legal and policy landscape for LGBTQ+ people across Europe, Romania and Bulgaria ranked last among all 27 EU countries.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/romania-bulgaria-pride-lgbtq-europe-3ea7535c4fb3b5b52acb06cb145924b9