Hungarian caterers protest against restrictions

Some 300 people on Monday held a demonstration in central Budapest with the demand that restaurants, bars, and hotels be allowed to reopen.

Restaurateurs, waiters, cooks, and hoteliers from around the country gathered in Heroes’ Square to draw attention to their lack of income for the past year, saying their reserves had ran out. “We want no Covid-communism”, “Open up!” and “I want to work”, they chanted.

Some staged a sit-down protest against the strong police presence in the square, while the organisers said that

the protests would continue in front of Parliament.

Police issued warnings and on-the-spot fines at the protest held on Monday, the Budapest police headquarters said on its website. Despite the organisers having officially cancelled the gathering, on social media they continued to encourage people to show up, police said.

Participants were warned that they were “attending a gathering which was against the law”, seven people were fined for refusing to wear a mask and eleven people were booked for committing an offence.

The Budapest police headquarters has initiated administrative proceedings against the organisers, police.hu said.

As we said yesterday, a couple of hundred people gathered at Budapest’s Heroes’ Square to demonstrate against coronavirus-related restrictions affecting businesses on Sunday afternoon. Most demonstrators at the event organised on Facebook were wearing masks. Police presence was heavy at the site with the authorities checking several people’s IDs. Read more details HERE.

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Source: MTI