Budapest (MTI) – Demonstrators showed their solidarity with daily Népszabadság on the square in front of Parliament late on Saturday.
The demonstrators, who included a number of the newspaper’s staff, other journalists and politicians from the opposition, filled the centre of Kossuth Square.
Many chanted “Népszabadság”, “Democracy”, “We will not allow it”, “Orbán must go” and “Free country, free media”.
Népszabadság’s owner, Mediaworks, said on Saturday it was suspending publication of the newspaper to focus on shaping a new business model. The paper’s circulation has dropped 74 percent while it has racked up more than 5 billion forints (EUR 16.4m) in losses over the last ten years, Mediaworks noted.
Népszabadság journalist Miklós Hargitai told the demonstrators that staff scheduled to work on Saturday had not been allowed into the paper’s offices. “That shows exactly how much of a business decision this was,” he added.
Hargitai said Népszabadság’s staff had not received a pay rise since 2008, though their salaries had been cut twice since 2010.
It is the job of a newspaper to keep power in check, he said. “That’s why there won’t be a Népszabadság from Monday, because the paper did its job too well,” he added.
The demonstration was organised by the Facebook group for freedom of the press.
The president of the European Parliament reacted to the decision on the daily in a twitter message saying that the “sudden closure of Népszabadság sets a worrying precedent”.
“I stand in solidarity with Hungarians protesting today,” said Martin Schulz.
Budapest, October 1 (MTI) – A demonstration organisers named “See the human” was held by civil organisations “for a humane Hungary” in front of Parliament on Friday evening.
Speakers at the event emphasised the importance of peace, solidarity and providing help to those in need, as well as condemning discrimination against refugees.
Árpád Schilling, founder of independent theatre Krétakör, who organised the rally together with actor and director Róbert Alföldi, said many people in this country had been living amid fear and hate, even though they do not know those whom they fear and hate.
Schilling said the question being asked at the Oct. 2 quota referendum was “phony” and therefore the referendum was a “mockery of democracy”. He said Hungary should voluntarily show solidary with the refugees and other countries.
Representatives of the teachers’ movement Tanítanék said the most important questions relating to the referendum had not been raised because any discussion had been rendered impossible by the “hate campaign”.
Several of the speakers quoted from the Bible, from the teachings of Jesus, calling on people to open their hearts to those in need.
Participants at the event filled the area in front of the stage set up in Kossuth Square, near the main entrance of Parliament.
At the end of the demonstration, a collage entitled “Aleppo'”, created by several artists, was set on its way around the world. Its first stop will be Serbia. The event was joined by several the organisations, including the Helsinki Committee, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and Migration Aid.
Budapest, September 29 (MTI) – The opposition Dialogue for Hungary (PM) party will go ahead and hold a demonstration on Oct. 2, the day of the national referendum on EU migrant quotas, despite the National Election Committee’s (NVB) decision to ban the event, Tímea Szabó, the party’s co-leader, said on Thursday.
In its Wednesday decision, NVB stated that PM had breached the election procedures law by calling a political rally for the day of a national ballot.
The demonstration called for Sunday afternoon on the square in front of Parliament qualifies as a political rally, the committee said.
The complaint against the party’s planned event had been submitted by two people, including Gergely Gulyás, deputy leader of ruling Fidesz, who acted as a private individual in the case.
Addressing a press conference, Szabó insisted that PM would not hold a political rally but a demonstration to protest against the government’s “hate campaign, which holds the public in fear”. She called the NBV as a “lackey” of Fidesz rhat seeks to prevent the event with a “false legal argument”.
The PM party will appeal the decision in the Kúria, Hungary’s supreme court, she said.
Meanwhile, the opposition Socialists have called a demonstration at the office building of the National Election Committee near Parliament for Saturday morning to protest against Fidesz’s “direct control” over the body. The party has invited every democratic opposition party that agree with the Socialists to join.
The Socialists said earlier that they cancelled their “Family Day” gathering planned for Oct. 2 in central Budapest so that Fidesz should not be in a position to blame them for a possible failure of the migrant quota referendum.
Budapest (MTI) – The opposition Socialist Party has called a demonstration for Saturday to protest against the ruling Fidesz party’s “interference” with Hungary’s election authorities.
The Socialist announcement follows a ruling by the National Election Committee, passed earlier on Wednesday, banning an event the party was planning for families for Sunday, simultaneously with the national referendum on migrant quotas.
In a statement, the Socialists have called on all other “democratic parties” to join the protest against the government “thwarting all opposition referendum initiatives and events”.
Budapest (MTI) – The opposition Socialist Party has complained about the ruling Fidesz party’s decision to turn to the National Election Committee in a bid to stop opposition parties from holding a demonstration on October 2, the day of the referendum on migrant quotas.
In a statement on Monday, the Socialists, referring to a now-defunct law on shopping restrictions, said the move was further proof that Fidesz wanted to dictate how people should spend their Sunday.
Fidesz has asked the election committee to adjudicate on the legality of holding a demonstration on the day of the popular vote.
The Socialists said in their statement: “So far Fidesz has spent 11.3 billion forints on its quota campaign, four times the sum spent on the general election … For months it has been illegally using taxpayer money to spread hate propaganda, and evidence has been captured on video showing public workers taking down opposition billboards and those of civil organisations.”
Budapest (MTI) – Several civil organisations held a joint demonstration on Saturday to protest against the cutting of trees as part of Budapest development projects in the City Park, the Orczy Garden and the Római embankment.
Budapest’s City Park was the first planned public city park in the world, head of the Town Protection Association for Budapest Mihály Ráday told the event from a stage set up in Heroes Square. Who would think of erecting new buildings in London’s Hyde Park or Paris’ Jardin du Luxembourg and Bois de Boulogne, he said referring to the Liget Project which would relocate several museums to the City Park.
Head of the CivilZuglo Association Lászlo Várnai demanded that “megalomaniac” construction plans should be stopped. He said Budapest should replace 3,000 missing trees and develop old industrial zones.
A symbolic “Golden chainsaw award” was granted to rector of the National University of Public Service András Patyi for being responsible for the cutting of 200 trees in Orczy Park according to the head of the association.
The participants were holding a sign showing the words “We will protect Budapest trees” and marched from Erzsébet Square on Andrássy Avenue to Heroes Square. When the front of the march arrived in the square the end was at Munkácsy Mihály Street.
Budapest, September 14 (MTI) – Nearly 6,000 employees of 168 municipal councils have joined a strike initiative by trade union MKKSZ on Wednesday, union leader Erzsébet Boros told a press conference.
Boros voiced satisfaction that fully 16 percent of Hungary’s 37,000 municipal employees have supported the all-day action for a 30 percent pay rise. She noted that some 24,000 employees have not been granted a pay rise for the past eight years.
Most municipal employees earn between 75,000-90,000 forints a month (EUR 242-290), which puts them in the “employed poor” category. Those salaries, earned with hard work, are not sufficient to make ends meet, she said.
Boros criticised the government for a lack of communication, and pledged further action.
The strike has been supported by the opposition LMP, DK and Együtt parties, as well as teacher trade union PDSZ.
Budapest, August 17 (MTI) – The public services workers’ union MKKSZ announced a full-day strike for September 14, the union’s president said on Wednesday.
The union demands a gross 30 percent increase in wages for local council employees effective October 2016. A warning strike was held on June 22 to highlight the fact that out of 37,000 local council workers, more than 24,000 have not received a pay rise for eight years, Péterné Boros told a press conference. Some 15 percent of workers participated in the two-hour warning strike in June, she said.
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According to the trade union, local council employees outside Budapest receive around the same monthly pay as fostered public workers 52,000 forints net (EUR 170).
Budapest, July 27 (MTI) – Local council employees are holding to their demand for an average 30 percent wage rise and plan to hold a day-long strike in September, daily Magyar Nemzet said, citing the head of civil servants and public employees trade union MKKSZ.
The union plans to select a date that does not interfere with a referendum on mandatory resettlement quotas to be held on October 2, Erzsébet Boros told the paper. However, the demonstration needs to be held in September because the union is asking for the pay rise from October, she added.
The union is also calling for the introduction of temporary regulations on civil servants and public employees to clear up concerns related to local council officials, she said.
Budapest, July 21 (MTI) – The Budapest prosecutor’s office will gather further information concerning a private complaint over a recent incident in connection with the contested Liget project in City Park, Bettina Bagoly, a spokeswoman for the authority, said on Thursday.
The complaint was submitted to the national police headquarters ORFK by individuals over their disturbance at the site by unknown perpetrators during the night on July 17, according to a statement released by the national police on Tuesday.
Police submitted records in connection with the case to the Budapest prosecution as suspicion of involvement of off-duty police officers has been raised, said ORFK.
Speaking to commercial television channel RTL Klub on Monday, a woman said that her daughter sleeping in a tent in the park had been kicked twice in the kidney by an unknown person.
She told later news portal index.hu that as an unknown person kicked the tent during the night she shouted that there was a girl sleeping inside. The perpetrator then delivered another kick shouting that “this is how the Liget must be protected!” the woman added. The daughter has not suffered any serious injuries, the portal said, citing a hospital report.
Environmentalists have been protesting for months against the project which they fear would ruin the popular public park.
Budapest, July 12 (MTI) – The government will draft a new bill on the right to assembly, following through with a ruling issued by the Constitutional Court, Hungary’s justice minister said on Tuesday.
The top court ruled earlier on Tuesday that parliament should enact appropriate public assembly legislation by the end of the year as the current regulations are conflicting concerning the constitutional right to assembly and the right to privacy.
László Trócsányi told a press conference that the new legislation will take into account the practice directions of the European Court of Human Rights and the opinions of legal experts and authorities. The government will also initiate talks on the bill with parliament’s five parties.
The minister attributed the problems with the public assembly law to the regulations being incomplete and difficult to interpret or implement.
Trocsanyi noted that the Constitutional Court had sought clarification to the legislation as early as 2008 when it said lawmakers had not taken into consideration the way demonstration culture had changed over time.
Interior Minister Sándor Pintér welcomed the court’s ruling and said the government would aim to put together a bill that will satisfy demonstrators and ensure that police can uphold public order.
He said the court’s decision introduced a new aspect in policing demonstrations by declaring that if a demonstration is banned at a certain site, police have to recommend an alternative location to organisers.
The top court’s Tuesday ruling came in connection with an appeal against the banning of a 2014 demonstration by troubled forex loan holders that was scheduled to be held at the prime minister’s residence and at the supreme court’s headquarters. The submission claimed that banning those demonstrations violated the right to peaceful assembly enshrined in the constitution.
The top court said that the authorities had not violated the right to assembly by banning the demonstrations and argued that protests could be held at any other sites outside the banned premises.
Budapest, July 12 (MTI) – The Constitutional Court has rejected an appeal in connection with a demonstration in 2014, and ruled for enacting clear legislation on the right to assembly.
The appeal was submitted by a private individual who had participated in a series of demonstrations held in December 2014 by troubled foreign-currency loan holders. The submission claimed that banning demonstrations at the prime minister’s residence and at the supreme court’s headquarters violated the right to peaceful assembly enshrined in the constitution.
The top court established that the authorities had not violated the right to assembly by banning the demonstration in 2014 and argued that demonstrations could be held at any other sites outside the banned premises. The court however established that regulations were controversial concerning the constitutional right to assembly and the right to privacy and ruled that parliament should enact appropriate legislation by the end of 2016.
The Civil Liberties Union (TASZ) said in response to the ruling that the Constitutional Court gave up the right of free assembly “out of political loyalty”, when it had no objections to the illegitimate protest ban. In a statement, TASZ insisted that a demonstration in front of the prime minister’s house cannot be banned on grounds that “it would harm the rights and freedoms of others”, and noted that the ban was “obviously in contradiction with the law”. If parliament gives the green light to banning events under the assumption that demonstrators could potentially commit law violations, authorities will be able to employ such bans under mere assumptions of the possibility of infringements, TASZ said, and concluded that the police have now been granted a power “to arbitrarily restrict one of the most important political freedoms”.
The opposition Socialists said the Constitutional Court’s decision confirmed that the body is not the guardian of constitutionality but serves the demands of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and ruling Fidesz. Socialist lawmaker Gergely Bárándy, the deputy head of parliament’s legislative committee, said that the decision also showed that Orban was afraid of the people.
The opposition Együtt party said the ruling was proof that the Constitutional Court gives priority to Fidesz’s interest as against basic human rights. The top court’s Tuesday decision was a political service to the government, which goes against the law, the party said.
Budapest, July 11 (MTI) – The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) on Monday called on Interior Minister Sandor Pinter to investigate the actions of security guards in Budapest’s City Park. DK accuses the guards of “acting above the law”.
Deputy party leader Ágnes Vadai said that in recent months, “groups of young skinheads” had appeared every time the interests of ruling Fidesz or the government had to be protected. Skinheads earlier this year prevented the opposition Socialists from submitting a referendum initiative against Sunday shopping restrictions, she noted, adding that last week, skinheads beat up people who had been peacefully demonstrating against the Liget Project in the City Park.
Police have not taken action against them despite recent reports that security guards had even used gas spray against the police, she said.
Vadai, who sits in parliament as an independent, asked Pinter whether any high-ranking Fidesz politicians had instructed the police not to take action against the “skinhead goons”.
Demolition works started in the City Park in the face of protests by environmentalists last week, after the company responsible for new building developments in the park, Városliget Zrt, said that the area occupied by activists protesting against the Liget Budapest project was now legally under its control.
Last Wednesday, police removed activists from the Hungexpo site, where they had been camped for over a hundred days in protest against the planned works, including chopping down trees .
Budapest, July 8 (MTI) – The company responsible for building developments in Budapest’s City Park, Városliget Zrt, has organised a forum to hear opinions on the Liget project under way, the ministerial commissioner for the project said on Friday.
László Baán told a press conference that the opportunity to voice an opinion had been available for five years. He insisted that the Liget project was one of the most debated government projects ever. He said the forum would provide an opportunity to share proposals and opinions.
“Naturally, some opinions will not be considered,” he said. Breaking the law and occupying a building site are unacceptable, he said, adding that violence would not be condoned either.
Police removed activists on Wednesday morning from the Hungexpo site, where they had been camped for over a hundred days in protest of the works planned. A demonstration was held in the evening at the site. Police started procedures against 63 activists and made 12 arrests. A 21-year-old French national was handed a one-year suspended prison sentence and expelled from Hungary for two years for “kicking an officer in the mouth”, according to a report by the municipal prosecutor.
The project’s 15 billion forint (EUR 47.6m) budget is Hungary’s biggest ever for revamping a public park, Baán said, adding that greenery in the park would expand from the current 57 percent to 65 percent.
Only 2 percent of 6,500 trees will be affected; the majority will be replanted and only “sick or invasive” trees will be felled, he said. Trees that are to be chopped down will be “generously” compensated for by planting new trees, he added.
Demolition of the Transport Museum building and the Hungexpo building have already started and the Petőfi hall will come down at the end of the year. The project is slated to finish by 2020, with the new museum buildings to be ready by 2019, Baán said.
Budapest, July 6 (MTI) – Hundreds of people protested against a construction project planned at Budapest’s City Park (Városliget) on Wednesday evening, after police removed activists from the site to begin works earlier in the day.
The demonstration organised on social media sites was addressed by András Lukács, head of the environmental Levegő Munkacsoport (Air Working Group), who noted that according to a survey commissioned recently by Greenpeace 86 percent of Budapesters oppose the Liget Project in its current form. A survey taken in January had shown 75 percent opposing the project, which involves the creation of a museum quarter, he said.
The government’s asset manager in charge of the project, Városliget Zrt, had since then spent 300 million forints on a communication campaign to promote the Liget Project, but “achieved the opposite result”.
Klára Garay, a spokesperson for the Ligetvedők group (Park Protectors) said activists will stay on site “until the rule of law returns”.
MTI Photo: Zoltán Balogh
Protesters said police had detained three people in the area behind the fences. The three people have been let go. The protesters are staying on site to voice disagreement with the police action.
Budapest, June 6 (MTI) – Demolition works have started in Budapest’s City Park in the face of protests by environmentalists.
The company responsible for new building developments in the park, Városliget Zrt, said in a statement on Wednesday that the area occupied by activists protesting against the Liget Budapest project was now legally under its control.
MTI Photo: Zoltán Balogh
Work has now started to demolish old Hungexpo office buildings after the authorities started to empty the area on Wednesday morning, the company said.
“As is known, there are protesters currently staying next to the ruins, blocking the legal works from being carried out, in spite of the legal demolition permit in the possession of Varosliget Zrt. Staying at the site is hazardous and a danger to life,” the statement said.
The Facebook group of activists said in a posting on Wednesday that several hundred police had appeared in the park and forced most of them out. Several activists have blocked themselves in, they added.
MTI Photo: Zoltán Balogh
MTI’s on-site correspondent said the area has been almost completely cleared of protesters. Around thirty activists were seen sitting on the ground in front of the fence surrounding the construction site, protesting peacefully.
The Budapest police department said on its website that twenty-three activists had left the area willingly after authorities had instructed them to do so while twelve protesters had to be led out by police. No arrests were made but police said they would file misdemeanor reports against twelve people.
MTI Photo: Zoltán Balogh
UPDATE
The ruling Fidesz party derided the “hysterical” protests in City Park called on “the opposition and activists” to stop spreading “fake news” over the Liget project. Had it been up to the left wing, Budapest would not have seen any upgrades or developments at all over the past years, Fidesz said. “They [the left] let City Park and the capital’s other natural and architectural treasures deteriorate during their tenure in government,” the statement said. Fidesz said that the project would make City Park “greener” and turn it into Budapest’s most beautiful park.
The green opposition LMP party expressed support for the protesters at the construction site, saying the party would use civil disobedience to thwart the project. Budapest councillor Antal Csárdi told MTI that it was unacceptable that City Park had been “taken over”, based on a document handing legal control over the area to Városliget Zrt. He said four-fifths of Budapest residents disapproved of the Liget project, which he said if completed, would “ruin” the capital for future generations as well.
Earlier Benedek R Sallai, the opposition LMP lawmaker who heads parliament’s sustainable development committee, said Budapest residents objected to plans to chop down hundreds of trees to make way for the buildings of a planned museum quarter in the City Park. A special committee session will take place on Friday to discuss the matter, giving representatives of the government, the Budapest municipal council, the construction company and civil groups a platform to state their positions. Sallai called on the government to “stop cutting down trees” and “speak out against the abuse of residents who want to express their opinion”.
MTI Photo: Zoltán Balogh
UPDATE 2.
MTI Photo: Zoltán Balogh
The Budapest police department said on its website that twenty-three activists had left the area willingly after authorities had instructed them to do so while twelve protesters had to be led out by police. They said they would file misdemeanor reports against twelve people. Later on the police said that three people had been detained, one for allegedly attacking a policeman.
MTI Photo: Zoltán Balogh
Radical nationalist Jobbik called on national and municipal leaders not to neglect local residents’ disapproval of the project. Jobbik MP Lajos Kepli said in a statement that “only a handful of entrepreneurs close to the government” would benefit from the Liget project, while hundreds of thousands of locals would suffer.
A municipal representative of the leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) referred to a recent survey and said that most residents rejected plans to erect buildings in the popular park. The government and Budapest Mayor István Tarlos would still “force onto Budapest plans to replace the little remaining green areas in the city with concrete”, Erzsébet Gy. Németh said. She demanded that Tarlos face the protesters and tell them that “he serves not Budapest but Fidesz”.
Budapest, June 28 (MTI) – The small opposition LMP party has expressed support for civil activists trying to block work under way in Budapest’s City Park within the contested Liget Project, and declared the construction illegal.
László Heltai, LMP’s local representative, told MTI that the whole project, aimed at building a complex of museums in the popular park, was illegal, and insisted that local residents had not been consulted.
Heltai said that plans for the earthworks had not been presented, nor was it clear how many trees would be cut down to give room for an underground car park next to the Museum of Transport, on the northeastern border of the park.
Earlier in the day, the protesters of Ligetvédők (City Park Protectors) pulled down a cordon around the construction site and sat on the ground. Police detained several protesters including János Barta, another municipal representative, Heltai said.
Some protesters climbed onto the museum building and chained themselves to the rails of upstairs windows.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Coalition (DK) party held a press conference, at which Eszter Sebestyén, an activist of the Ligetvedok group, reported injuries which she suffered during violent treatment by security guards and police during a protest on Sunday.
DK spokesman Zsolt Gréczy demanded that the interior minister should launch an investigation concerning the “violent thugs” and police “siding with them”.
In a statement, Budapest police BRFK said that Sebestyén was being detained “under suspicion of criminal activities” but she resisted. “The necessary amount of coercion was applied,” the statement said.
Budapest (MTI) – Rehab Critical Mass, a march organised for the third year to call attention to the importance of an accessible society, will be held in Budapest this Sunday.
The aim of the march is to bring visibility and strengthen support and lobbying power for disabled people in Hungary.
In its first year in 2014, about 3,000 attended the march. This rose to 6,000 last year and organisers expect even more people to turn up this year, Judit Surányi, one of the main organisers, told public news channel M1 on Monday. When the march was first held two years ago it was the first of its kind in the world, she said.
A big problem for people with physical disabilities or sight, hearing, speech or mental impairments is a lack of negotiating power, Surányi said. The Rehab Critical Mass event wants to create solidarity in society to serve accessibility needs, which not only help disabled people but also others like mothers with small children or the elderly, she added.
The march will start out at Clark Ádám square on Sunday afternoon and pass through Chain Bridge to end up in Erzsebet Square on the eastern side of the city.
