Brussels hits out at Orban for banning Budapest Pride parade
Mr Orban's government has warned that anyone attending the march faced fines of about £426 and a criminal record. Facial recognition technology could be used and organisers face up to a year in prison.
The ban, announced by police last week, is justified by the ruling Fidesz party on child protection grounds.
It comes after Hungary banned LGBT people from featuring in school educational materials or TV shows for the under-18s.
In 2021, EU leaders angrily confronted Mr Orban at a summit over the 'gay propaganda' law, then a proposal. Earlier this month, a top advisor to the European Court of Justice warned it broke EU law.
Mrs von der Leyen's equalities commissioner Hadja Lahbib will be in Budapest on Friday and may attend the march. Organisers claim that ministers from several EU countries will also be in the capital in a show of support.
Several members of the European Parliament have also said they will attend the march, which is organised by Budapest's city hall.
The Hungarian government has written to EU embassies warning ambassadors and their staff not to attend the march, warning that police had banned the gathering.
March organisers have written to the envoys in turn, insisting the police do not have the authority to ban the event.
Drumming up support
Mr Orban's culture war with the liberal metropolitans of Budapest is intended to fire up his support among more conservative, rural voters ahead of elections next year.
Since he returned to power in 2010, he has angered liberal EU allies with a series of laws targeting the LGBT community, while demanding a rollback of Brussels overreach.
When he arrived at the summit on Thursday, Mr Orban was asked if he would allow one of his five children to attend Pride.
'They're grown-ups,' he told reporters. 'They can make their own decisions.'
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