The Hokds protester, a poster reading, “See (never) Viktor” when Miles meet in front of Parliament in the center of Budapest, Hungary, on June 10.
Budapest, Hungary – around 15,000 protesters filled a place in the capital of the Hungarians on Tuesday in what the organizers called the beginning of a resistance movement against the government of the populist prime minister Viktor Orbán.
Almost two boxes public figures, including writers, actors, musicians and journalists, joined the demonstration in Budapest. Most speakers criticized what they see as the increasingly anti -democratic behavior of the government. Some alleged corruption benefit those with ties with the Fidesz party of Orbán.
“This country does not belong to those who lie, who steal people, who have sold their humanity for power,” said a speaker, Csaba Bogos. “This country belongs to those who dare to think, who can read between the lines, who trust themselves and with each other, and believe that there is a common and peaceful future that we must build together.”
It was the last anti -government protest since the Orbán party promoted a law in March, and a constitutional amendment the following month, that effective LGBTQ+ public events prohibited.
This law also allowed the authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify and fine participants in prohibited assemblies. He drew accusations that Orbán led the country to a complete autocracy similar to Russia under President Vladimir Putin.
As the national elections approach in 2026 and the trails of the Orbán party in most surveys to a new opposition challenger, the detractors of the Hungarian leader say that he has resorted to more authoritarian tactics to silence critics.
The speakers in the Tuesday demonstration warned that a recent draft bill that would allow the government to critical media organizations of the blacklist and NGOs would mean the end of independent journalism and civic participation.
This bill would allow the government to monitor, restrict, penalize and prohibit potential organizations that considers a threat to the national sovereignty of the Hungarian. His passage was recently delayed to the autumn session of Parliament.
Some 80 leading media throughout Europe signed a petition urging the bill to be revoked, and the European Union Executive Committee said it would violate the laws of the EU and the fundamental values.
The manifestor Daniel Szabó said that the law was not intended to protect the sovereignty of the Hungarian, but designed to consolidate the power for the government party.
“We clearly have the situation in which the government is trying to silence the opposition,” said Szabó. “The possibility of any type of normal coexistence or the possibility of consensus is now attacked from all directions.”
Dénes Sallai, a popular musician and rapper, told the crowd that he sees signs that the support for a long time for Orbán and his group was decreasing.
“Most people are fed up with the actions of this regime, and there seems to be a real possibility that next year, after 16 years, Fidesz is not the one to form a government,” he said.