Opposition, NGOs call for joining European prosecutor’s office at Budapest demonstration

Opposition parties and civil groups staged a demonstration in Budapest’s Bem József Square on Tuesday calling for Hungary to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).

Independent MP Ákos Hadházy, the organiser of the demonstration, said that if the opposition managed to collect one million signatures in support of a campaign aimed at getting Hungary to join the EPPO, the government would agree to join.

He said this would not result in the suspension of the transfer of European Union funds to Hungary, but would instead drive back corruption.

Hadházy announced that opposition and civil activists would soon start collecting signatures for the suspension of home evictions.

Péter Márki-Zay, the mayor of Hódmezővásárhely, said the “Orbán regime” could only be ousted if the opposition joined forces. “We’ll need 3,200 Hódmezővásárhelys in order to defeat the party-state in next year’s local elections,” he said, referring to the opposition cooperation that allowed him to win the city’s interim mayoral election in February.

Tamás Harangozó of the Socialist Party said the European prosecutor’s office would be used by the opposition as a weapon “in the freedom fight against the Orbán regime” before it leads the country to a dead end.

Párbeszéd MEP Benedek Jávor said the government, which he called a “thief regime”, was turning Hungary away from the EU for its self-enrichment.

Photo: MTI

Democratic Coalition board member Judit Földi urged the elimination of the consequences of “destruction caused by the Orban regime” and called for the creation of a liveable Hungary.

At the event, Anna Donáth, a deputy leader of the opposition Momentum Movement, reassured the campaign of her party’s support.

The demonstration was attended by a few hundred people.

Following the demonstration at Bem József Square, some two hundred protesters headed over to the Budapest headquarters of Hungarian public broadcaster MTVA to demonstrate in support of independent news coverage.

In a speech in front of the HQ, Hadházy said a “disinformation-filled dictatorship, or demagoguery” was the best way to describe the current state of affairs in Hungarian media. He said the April general elections had been “rigged”, and therefore the current parliament was illegitimate.

Featured image: MTI