demonstration

“Nuke them!” – Hundreds at the pro-Putin demonstration today in Budapest – PHOTOS

Pro Russian and pro Ukraine protests were held in Budapest

“Nuke them!” – this was one of the most shocking shouts that could be heard during a pro-Putin, pro-Russia demonstration today afternoon in Budapest. The venue was originally Heroes’ Square, but, for some reason, the organisers modified it. Thus, they gathered in the Hungarian capital’s heart, in Freedom (Szabadság) Square. Interestingly, a WWII Soviet monument is there, but so is the Embassy of the USA. Moreover, there was a pro-Ukraine demonstration nearby.

“Nuke them!”

According to Blikk, the pro-Ukraine protest started just after the pro-Russia demonstration finished. The Hungarian news outlet said there were fewer people at the pro-Russian event. Somebody decorated the Soviet memorial in Szabadság (Freedom) Square with tiny Hungarian and Ukrainian flags. These were replaced with Russian ones before the demonstration started.

The pro-Russian protest started with speeches. The speakers said that Hungarian peacekeepers should protect the interests of Hungarians living in Transcarpathia. Furthermore, they welcomed the autonomy of Russians and asked the government to acknowledge that. Finally, they stressed that the USA was responsible for the war.

People shouted anti-Ukrainian slogans into the loudspeakers. Some said that the Ukrainians gave only a few poets to the world, and that is all. Others replied: “Nuke them!” The demonstrators hailed Putin, Transcarpathia, Hungary, and booed Ukraine, Zelenskiy, and the peace treaty of Trianon.

One of the speakers said that Hungarians are suffocating from Western propaganda. He believed that a financial background power uses NATO to gain control over the resources of Russia. Others said Putin had no other choice but to attack Ukraine. They highlighted Russia’s interests had to be considered by other powers.

The first venue of the pro-Russian demonstration was Heroes’ Square, but the organisers changed it.

Pro Russian and pro Ukraine protests were held in Budapest
“Yankee, go home!” Photo: MTI/Zoltán Balogh
Pro Russian and pro Ukraine protests were held in Budapest
Photo: MTI/Zoltán Balogh

God bless Ukraine and Hungary!

Interestingly, there was a pro-Ukraine demonstration just a couple of blocks away, with Ukrainian and Hungarian speeches, Blikk wrote. The Ukrainian Cultural Association in Hungary and the Jednisty Asociaciya Association organised it on Vértanúk tere (Martyrs’ Square). 

Hundreds gathered there with Ukrainian flags. The first speaker reminded the protestors that in 1932 and 1933, the Russians carried out genocide against the Ukrainians by starving 3-7 million people to death. He said that the same Russians came to Ukraine with rockets and tanks. He added that the Hungarian parliament should stand behind Ukraine because the fate of the two peoples is the same, and Hungary also has martyrs.

Actress Kriszta Szalai also talked during the protest. She highlighted that only the politicians play games. The people of Hungary are with Ukraine. “We are with you,” she concluded.

Pro Russian and pro Ukraine protests were held in Budapest
Photo: MTI/Zoltán Balogh
Russian president Vladimir Putin
Read alsoDid Hungary violate EU sanctions by paying for Russian gas in roubles?

Despite efforts to cancel, a pro-Russian march will be held in Budapest’s Freedom Square

Putin Russia march Budapest

Despite rumours of the pro-Russian march being cancelled by the organisers and Facebook’s attempts to delete the event, the march will still be held, but it will be organised in a different location in Budapest.

The event titled “Let’s express our solidarity with Russia” has stirred up quite a bit of emotion in Hungary as the Ukrainian minority immediately started protesting against the march planned to be held in the Hungarian capital on April 30th.

Great uproar

On paper, the Budapest Police Headquarters found nothing illegal during the inquiry into the permission request for the event and has given it a green light; however, the Ukrainian minority in Hungary, including Jaroszlava Hartyányi, a board member of the Ukrainian World Congress and a former representative of said minority, sent a written protest to the Hungarian Police, 24.hu reported.

In the document, she wrote that Russia launched an aggressive attack against Ukraine on 24 February. Ukrainians have every ground to defend themselves, and they are not attacking Russian cities.

Mrs Hartyányi added that the Russians are committing massacres against Ukrainians on the territories they keep under military control. The whole world protested against it, especially after seeing the mass graves in Bucha.

She highlighted that an unknown person started to organise a pro-Russian protest on Heroes’ Square. However, such an event would compromise both Hungary and Budapest.

“A pro-Russian march in Budapest would compromise the policy of the Hungarian government as well. Moreover, it would destroy Hungary’s solidarity, help, and aid towards Ukraine and the humanitarian support the country sent to the war-stricken country.”

The organisers’ take

In the original Facebook event, which has since been removed, the organisers listed four points as to why they wanted to organise the pro-Russian march:

  • We stand with Russia, with the Russian civilians and athletes.
  • We condemn war; the USA is responsible for the war.
  • We condemn the anti-Russian sanctions of the USA and the EU. Because of the sanctions, Central Europe is becoming devastated, and we are facing a food and energy crisis.
  • We are fed up with the lies of the USA, EU, and Ukraine.

They highlighted that they are fed up with the untrue statements of the media, the lies of Ukraine, the USA, and the European Union, adding that such marches already took place in Cyprus and Germany.

The march will be held despite efforts to cancel it

The pro-Russian march was originally planned to be held on Heroes’ Square in Budapest as a mixed procession of pedestrians, bikers, cars, and bicycles and has managed to attract around 2,000 people who were interested in the march and a few hundred who already signalled that they would be present.

One of the organisers is Zoltán P., who has possibly been part of a Russian cyberattack against the Hungarian Ministry of Defence a few years ago, Rtl reports.

Facebook deleted the organisers’ event page on Thursday and, according to one of the organisers called “Háborúmentes Hazugságmentes Tolvajmentes EU-t” (which translates to “for a war-free, lie-free, thief-free EU”), they have lost a total of about 3,000 people who were interested.

They posted that the event is not cancelled and that it will be held on April 30th at 2 p.m. at Szabadság tér (Freedom Square) in district V of Budapest.

Rtl found supporting evidence from the Budapest Police Headquarters that the organisers have not cancelled the event at the assembly authority, in this case the Hungarian police, and that the pro-Russian march is declared to be held on April 30th at the above-mentioned time and place.

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Protesters rally in solidarity with Ukraine in Budapest – PHOTOS

Pro-Ukraine protest in Budapest1

Protesters rallied in support of a free and independent Ukraine and against what they called the Hungarian government’s “shuttlecock policy”, in downtown Budapest on Saturday. The demonstration was organised by a civil group supporting ukrainian independence at the call of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Budapest’s Szabadsajtó (Freedom of the Press) Road.

Péter Juhász, one of the organisers, said that while civil groups were showing solidarity towards refugees and were doing everything they could for them, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian government “hasn’t done anything”. “So civilians are the heart of Hungary,” Juhász said. “Orbán, on the other hand, is not the heart of Hungary but rather its sticky hand, and that sticky hand is now also a bloody hand”.

“We mustn’t allow this because the world will think that we’re the same as Viktor Orbán,”

Juhász said.

Pro-Ukraine protest in Budapest1
Photo: MTI/Bruzák Noémi

Historian Krisztián Ungváry said Orbán’s position on the war meant the prime minister believed that ideas like national self-determination, liberty and the fight for freedom only mattered if they concerned the ruling Fidesz party. Ungváry said Ukraine was defending not just itself but the whole of Europe.

Pro-Ukraine protest in Budapest1
Historian Krisztián Ungváry. Photo: MTI/Bruzák Noémi

“Ukraine today is also fighting against the regime of Viktor Orbán because Viktor Orbán and Vladimir Putin are brothers,” he said. “They both reject Western democracy, and are building an illiberal state in its place.”

Kata Törley, a teacher and an activist of the Tanítanék (I Want to Teach) Movement, expressed respect for Ukrainian women and mothers in Ukraine and Russia.

She said the government was not giving the education the extra resources it needed to teach Ukrainian refugee children.

Nika Krykun and Arseniy Markov, two Ukarinian students who appeared in the award-winning Ukrainian coming-of-age drama Stop-Zemlia, shared their personal stories with the demonstrators. Markov said

the Russian soldiers in Ukraine would “not make it home alive” for which they “have Putin to thank”.

Krykun said she would “never forgive the aggressors” for the nighmares her younger brother has because of Russian gunshots.

Pro-Ukraine protest in Budapest1
Photo: MTI/Bruzák Noémi

The demonstrators waved Ukrainian flags and held up signs that read “Stop Putin” and “Save Ukraine”. The demonstration was preceded by a peaceful march by Ukrainian mothers who have fled to Hungary.

Csaba Dömötör, a state secretary of the cabinet ministry, said the demonstration was

“further proof that the left wants to drag Hungary into war”.

In a statement to MTI, Domotor said that “people close” to opposition prime ministerial candidate Peter Márki-Zay had also spoken at the event. “It is clear they want to comply with the Ukrainian president’s requests and send weapons to the battlefield, and they would close the gas taps,” the statement said.

That would mean that Hungarian families would pay the price of war,

he said. Dömötör noted that Hungary had condemned Russian aggression in Ukraine, and has expressed its concerns regarding Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and has pledged to help everyone in trouble.

“But the Russia-Ukraine war is not our war. We didn’t cause it and do not want to take part in it,”

he said. “There is no prosperity without security. The country can only be built further if we preserve security,” he said.

Radical Mi Hazánk party protested against NATO, ‘Covid dictatorship’

Radical-party-Mi-Hazank-Budapest

The non-parliamentary radical Mi Hazánk party held a demonstration on Sunday in the Castle District against the deployment of NATO battle groups in Hungary and measures related to Covid-19 described by party leaders as a “Covid dictatorship”.

The protesters originally intended to hold the demonstration in front of the prime minister’s office but in the end they gathered in front of the Sándor Palace, the president’s office next door.

László Toroczkai, the party’s chairman, insisted the World Health Organization (WHO) and its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, an “Ethiopian terrorist villain”, wanted to take over the world.

The coronavirus, he added, was an “artificial bioweapon used against humanity”, while the war in Ukraine served the same purpose of creating a new world order to enrich global corporations.

Young teachers’ net wage is 467 EUR/month in Hungary – many went on strike

Teachers strike Hungary

Teachers in Hungary receive one of the lowest salaries in the European Union. Therefore, fewer people choose this profession. Thus, schools struggle with significant labour shortages everywhere in the country and raise the work burden of their employees. The result is a vicious circle the teachers would like to break. Opposition backs their strike, while the government says they went on strike for political reasons.

Net wage for teachers ridiculous

In the past 12 years, the government has “humiliated teachers and pushed them to the brink of a subsistence crisis,” opposition politicians said on Wednesday. Gergely Arató, deputy parliamentary leader of the Democratic Coalition, told an online press conference that teachers had been stripped of wage increases, security of livelehood and autonomy. Referring to recently amended legislation on the basic services provided during strikes, Arató said their right to strike was also at risk.

Should the opposition come to power, they will raise wages by 50 percent in the sector, he said.

Teachers will be free to choose the text books they want to use, and the opposition will “restore education institutions to local communities rather than maintaining useless centralisation and bureaucracy.”

LMP co-leader Máté Kanász-Nagy said Romanian teachers earned over 50,000 forints (EUR 134) more than Hungarian counterparts, as the Hungarian government had not raised the basic wage of teachers since 2014.

A young teacher’s net wage is around the minimum wage for skilled workers, 173,000 forints,

he said.

The government says the teachers’ strike is politically motivated

Hungary’s government agrees with the demands of teachers, but 87 percent of teachers agree that now is not the time for them to go on strike, the prime minister’s chief of staff has said. Speaking to public media about an indefinite strike launched by teachers on Wednesday, Gergely Gulyás thanked teachers for the fact that

less than 15,000 of those working in public schools had participated in the work stoppage.

Gulyás said this number was significantly less than the number of teachers who had taken part in a strike in January which was later declared unlawful. Counting kindergarten and vocational school teachers, it can be said that overall less than 10 percent of teachers took part in the strike, Gulyás said. He said teachers had legitimate demands, adding that meeting them would be among the most important tasks of the next government term.

Brussels is currently discussing the next seven-year budget, Gulyás said, adding that the promised 30 percent wage increase was likely to be implemented. Hungary has asked Brussels for hundreds of billions of forints to help fund the pay hikes, he said.

Gulyás said

he hoped an agreement on the funding would soon be reached so that teachers could see their wages rise over the next government term.

He thanked teachers for conceding that a strike was not the most suitable form of protest when there is a war going on in Hungary’s neighbouring country and schools also have to take care of refugee children. He noted that schools had already endured a difficult last two years because of the pandemic.

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Századvég: majority finds Orbán ‘strong leader’ keeping country safe

Viktor Orbán military helicopter

Most Hungarians regard Viktor Orbán as better suited to guaranteeing Hungarian security and warding off the negative economic effects of the conflict than Péter Márki-Zay, the united opposition’s prime ministerial candidate, according to the government-close think-tank Századvég.

Fully 66 percent of Hungarians consider Orbán the stronger leader on the security question, while 25 percent said the same of Péter Márki-Zay, in the March survey. Fully 65 percent and 27 percent responded respectively on the question of who was more likely to mitigate the economic effects of the conflict on Hungary. A similar proportion responded on the question of the government’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Meanwhile, it seems that the government cannot put the protests of the Hungarian teachers to a halt. The PDSZ teacher union, which has formed a strike committee, on Wednesday called on the government to negotiate its demands concerning wages and workload.

The union wants the basic wage for teachers to match that of civil servants, while it calls for other employees working in the sector to receive no less than the minimum wage.

Among further demands, the union also wants the 22 hour limit on classroom teaching to be restored and overtime payments. PDSZ has asked the government to assign a representative for talks in the next five days.

The joint opposition promised significant payrise and a decrease in workload for the teachers if they win in April. In response, the human resources ministry on Wednesday cited the Appeal Court’s decision that strikes are to be held in line with the relevant legislation, which mandates schools to provide child care and education during strikes.

The decision “is the end of the legal dispute with unions”, the ministry said, referring to the unions’ claim that the legislation was in essence robbing teachers of the right to strike.

The ministry called on the union to “stop misleading parents and the public”.

“In the current war situation, peace and calm is needed in schools, and we ask the unions to reconsider their intention to strike,” the statement said. The government is committed to further raising teachers’ wages, the statement added.

márki-zay péter
Read alsoPM candidate Márki-Zay: PM Orbán a mercenary and servant of Putin

Ukrainian guest workers demonstrated for peace in Hungary

Demonstration

Almost 250 guest workers demonstrated for peace on Sunday evening in Székesfehérvár near the downtown WWII memorial.

Guest workers for peace

According to Kárpáthír, the demonstrators had Hungarian and English posters on which they wrote: “Stop Putin!” and “Glory to the heroes!” One of the speakers, a woman, asked everybody to say a prayer for the defenders and the population of Kyiv.

A man said that they found a motherland and job in Hungary. He asked the Hungarians to help the Ukrainians as they did up to then and not let his country down.

A young woman directed her words to the Russian mothers. She asked them to stop their sons from killing Ukrainians. She said that every mother worries for their children and relatives. Therefore, she asked all mothers to end “this mad war”. Another woman said that her father lived in a war-torn region of Ukraine. But when they managed to speak he said he was not afraid. She added that the women who remained at home were not afraid, and if needed, they would arm themselves.

This is why the defence minister visited the Hungarian-Ukrainian border

Meanwhile, MTI reported that

all five of the crossings along Hungary’s border with Ukraine are now operating around the clock.

Hungary’s Defence Minister Tibor Benkő and Commander of the Hungarian Defence Forces Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi visited the Barabás border station, in the east of Hungary, on Sunday, the army said on Facebook. The men met with troops and police at the crossing on Hungary’s border with Ukraine. They also spoke with war refugees.

hungarian_defence_minister_and_the_army_commander
The defence minister and the army commander at the Hungarian-Ukrainian border yesterday. Photo: MTI

Featured image: illustration, mass demonstration organised by the opposition parties in Budapest last Thursday, the day when the Russian invasion began.

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Read alsoIs Ukraine not a NATO member because of an education law?

Opposition MPs call on Orbán cabinet to resign at Budapest demonstration

Opposition lawmakers held a demonstration in downtown Budapest late on Monday, accusing the government of spying on people “for thinking critically about the regime and asking critical questions”.

Referring to press reports that the Hungarian government may be behind the spyware hacks of the devices of hundreds of Hungarian journalists, politicians and other public figures using Israeli spyware, Anna Donáth, an MEP of the Momentum Movement, said: “We are living in a surveillance state”.

Gergely Arató of the Democratic Coalition said a government that spied on its own citizens was not conversant with European values. He said what was at stake in the 2022 general election was “Orban or Europe”.

Örs Tetlak of the Liberals said

“those responsible … should be held accountable and this government has to go.”

Dániel Kárpát Z of Jobbik said the fact that ruling party lawmakers boycotted a meeting of parliament’s national security council which abandoned earlier on Monday for the lack of a quorum was “tantamount to a confession of guilt.”

Socialist lawmaker Gergely Bárándy said

the Pegasus case was “another outrageous stage in the government’s ongoing efforts since 2010 to push Hungary closer to Eastern regimes.”

Dávid Dorosz of Párbeszéd said the government would “pay the price” for the scandal in next year’s election.

The demonstration started at the House of Terror Museum on Andrássy Street and marched to the Fidesz headquarters on Heroes’ Square, with the crowd carrying banners and signs, and the flags of opposition parties.

Read alsoOpposition MPs call on Orbán cabinet to resign at Budapest demonstration

The Allianz Arena might be welcoming the Hungarian team rainbow-coloured – UPDATE

allianz arena rainbow

Last week, the Hungarian government passed their anti-paedophile law. The problem with this is that, according to public opinion, this package of laws includes amendments that are “homophobic” and are discriminatory against non-heterosexuals.

One of the amendments that caused the issue was that, under the new proposal, the promotion and presentation of homosexuality or gender reassignment would be prohibited for those under 18 years of age. Many NGOs said that it was a frontal attack on freedom of expression and children’s rights.

This has caused a great deal of public unrest and has triggered a whole wave of responses all around the country, going as far as demonstrations in Budapest and drawing the attention of the international scene to Hungary.

One of the latest developments regarding the issue is that there is a petition on the internet that aims to paint the Allianz Arena in Germany in rainbow colours. This would be taunting the Hungarian team who will have a match against the German team in the European Championship this Wednesday.

Huge march against the new Hungarian “homophobic” law

The harsh answer of America to the Hungarian homophobic law

According to Index, the petition was launched by Change.org because they think that the Hungarian package of laws aimed at the protection of children is an attack against basic human rights. The petition stands at over 87,000 signatures.

Many companies on the international scene have reacted to the new Hungarian law, and one of them was the streaming giant, Netflix. They have posted an image on Facebook and have expressed their support for the rights of the LGBTQ community. Even the European Commission has said that they would look into the matter and inspect whether the new Hungarian law infringes upon basic human rights, Index reported.

https://www.facebook.com/netflixmagyarorszag/photos/a.132780631451267/635431137852878/?type=3

As a side effect of the package of laws, the display of homosexuality in the media, be it in a series, a movie, a TV programme or a simple advertisement, could be severely limited. TV channel RTL Klub Hungary said that the decision resulted in the recategorisation of many movies in terms of the age-based rating system.

24 reports that Media1 tried to ask the government officials what the procedure would be on deciding what movies can be shown or not. The law states that any piece of media that features sexual or LGBTQ content can only be screened for adults and past 10 p.m. The officials’ response was that they were going to conduct investigations based on reports and will treat each report as a unique case. Balázs Orbán added that he hopes everyone understands the aim of the law.

demonstration-hungary
Read alsoEverything you need to know about the new Hungarian “homophobic” law

UPDATE

  • Despite the petition supported by many worldwide, the German football stadium can not be rainbow-coloured during tomorrow’s game between Hungary and Germany, details HERE
Read alsoForeign minister welcomes UEFA decision ‘not to assist to political provocation’

PM Orbán: Sex education of children exclusively up to parents

demonstration against homophobic law

Only parents should be the ones to decide on the sex education of their children, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a “samizdat” letter published on his website on Thursday.

The prime minister said alarm bells were going off across Europe over Hungary’s new laws on paedophelia.

“Let’s face it, this movement is eternal, and its new slogan is no longer ‘Proletarians of the world, unite!’ but ‘Liberals of the world, unite!'” Orbán wrote.

This, he added, reinforced “the Central European conviction that today’s liberals are in fact communists with degrees”.

He said the current “left-wing campaign against Hungary” was further proof that the left was “the enemy of freedom”, arguing that “instead of freedom of speech, they want political correctness as defined by them, and hegemony of opinion instead of a pluralism of ideas”.

He said the law passed on Tuesday was not in conflict with any “lofty ideals” or European laws. It “simply states clearly that only parents can decide on the sexual education of their children”, Orbán added.

The prime minister said education in schools must not be in conflict with the will of parents, but should at most be supplementary. Its form and content must be clearly defined and it must be subject to parental consent, he added.

Orbán said parents rightfully expected children to be shielded from pornography, sexuality for its own sake, homosexuality and “gender reassignment programs” on the platforms they visit.

“These restrictions must also be defined with surgical precision,” he wrote. “In Hungary, no one has a say in how adults live their lives. In our view, a free adult should not have to give an account of his life in front of any secular authority – only before God when the time comes.”

This was why, he said, the law did not apply to the lives and “sexual practices” of adults over the age of 18. “Moreover, in the European context, Hungarian society is among Europe’s most committed nations to individual freedom and tolerance.”

The reasons for this, he said, were rooted in Hungary’s cultural traditions, Christian freedom, the nation’s struggles for its own freedom and “a deep contempt for communism and communist tyranny”.

Orbán said Hungarian freedom was not just about political freedom, freedom of choice, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and association, but also about “the right to defend our families and educate our children as we see fit”.

“Our law is a worthy continuation of the European tradition of freedom,” he insisted.

“The debate on the future of Europe – that is, our children – has just begun,” the prime minister wrote. “We are here, and we stand ready.”

demonstration-hungary
Read alsoEverything you need to know about the new Hungarian “homophobic” law

Huge march against the new Hungarian “homophobic” law

demo against homophobic law

The Háttér Társaság (Society for those in the Background) and Amnesty International Hungary announced another demonstration for Wednesday evening against the paedophile law which contains homophobic modifiers and was passed on Tuesday.

“Love is stronger than hate – let’s show János Áder too!” is the title of the demonstration which was held at the Sándor Palace.

“Protect LGBTQI youth! Show the worth of receiving factual information and reassuring support. Show how happy and full of a life LGBTQI people can live if they are left alone! ” the organisers wrote on the Facebook page of the protest.

homophobic law protest
Photo: www.facebook.com/Háttér Társaság

Dozens of police officers surrounded the Sándor Palace, who were initially three to four times more than the participants. However, St. George’s Square was filled quickly.

“It is the job of President János Áder not to sign the law,” said David Vig, director of Amnesty, to which the crowd began to chant: “Do not sign it, János!”

Before the demonstration, the organisers asked participants to write down their coming out stories and explain what it meant to them that they were supported by their loved ones or people important to them. Reports were also expected as to whether there was a school conversation where authentic information about LGBTQI people could be obtained, whether there was an LGBTQI family member, acquaintance, friend whom support, and if so, why and how.

According to Telex, these letters were also placed at the Sándor Palace, the office of President János Áder.

So far, the following organizations, companies and institutions have stood up against the propaganda law: A + E Networks UK, AMC, American Embassy, Amnesty International Hungary, Artemission Foundation, Budapest Pride, Central Media Group, Chili and Vanilla, Foundation of the Power of Humanity, European Parliament Intergroup LGBTI Group, ExxonMobil Hungary, Festipay Háttér Társaság, Haver Foundation, HBO, InStyle Hungary, HOPPER Budapest, School of Public Life, Labrisz Lesbian Association, Levegő Working Group, Hungarian Mothers, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Trade Union of Hungarian Civil Servants, Civil Servants and Public Service Workers, Hungarian Psychological Society – LGBTQ section, Hungarian Advertising Association, National, Association of Hungarian Journalists, McCann Budapest, Music Hungary Association, Nyitottak vagyunk, Nyomtassteis, Ecopartner Foundation, Open For Business, Democratic Union of Teachers, Public Groups, RTL Hungary, Saatchi & Saatchi Budapest, Sigma Technology Group, Foundation for Rainbow Families, TOMS Hungary, Trivium packaging, ViacomCBS, W5labs, WarnerMedia, Zsolya Communication

homophobic law protest
Photo: www.facebook.com/Amnesty International Magyarország

On June 15, the Hungarian parliament voted by 157 yes votes to 1 against the law on stricter action against paedophile offenders, which was supplemented last week with homophobic amendments. 444 writes that the law was supported by the Fidesz, KDNP and Jobbik parties, as well as by independent MEPs István Apáti, Tibor Bana, Dóra Dúró, Gergely Farkas, Erik Fülöp, Tamás Sneider, Andrea Varga-Damm, János Volner and Imre Ritter. Only one Independent Member voted no. Other factions of the opposition boycotted the meeting.

Thousands protested on Kossuth Square on Monday before the vote on Tuesday against the law filled with homophobic modifiers – seemingly without result.

demonstration hungary
Read alsoHuge demonstration against Hungarian homophobic law – Photos

Everything you need to know about the new Hungarian “homophobic” law

demonstration-hungary

Last week the Hungarian government implemented a change in the recent anti-paedophile law. The change has caused a great deal of public unrest with a demonstration held on Monday in front of the Hungarian Parliament. Since that, the topic has shifted the spotlight to Hungary worldwide, with many people making a stand against the law.

The whole thing started a little over two weeks ago when two Fidesz members have submitted a bill that would tighten the penalty for sexual crimes against children and make a list of perpetrators to help defend the younger generation. You can read about the original submission in more detail in THIS article.

Then, last week the Fidesz have amended the anti-paedophile law, or, more precisely, a set of laws that aims towards the protection of children from sexual attacks, paedophilia and would implement stricter punishment if the perpetrator was an official and also forbids perpetrators to work with underaged people.

However, one of the amendments that caused the issue was that under the new proposal, the promotion and presentation of homosexuality or gender reassignment would be prohibited for those under 18 years of age.

Many NGOs said that it was a frontal attack on freedom of expression and children’s rights.

Telex also said earlier that Hungary aims to copy the Russian homophobic package, and with the new amendment, Fidesz is confusing sexual crimes with gender identity issues. You can read more about all the problematic amendments in THIS article, and more details are available for the other laws the package includes HERE.

A demonstration was organised by Amnesty International Hungary, Budapest Pride, Háttér Society, the Hungarian Helsinki Society, and more, and was held starting from 6 p.m. on Monday. Thousands of people have attended the demonstration, and there is a petition against the new amendment that is at over 117,000 signatures at the time of writing this article.

On the last day of the Hungarian Parliament’s Spring session on Tuesday, however, the representatives have voted to accept the package of laws, triggering an even greater echo among the people. For example, TV channel RTL Klub Hungary said that the decision results in the reconsideration of many movies in terms of the age-based rating system. You can read more about them HERE.

Materials about gender change, promoting homosexuality forbidden in schools

András Schiffer, a lawyer and former politician, said on his Facebook that

“The bit propagandistic and homophobic proposal to ban “the promotion of homosexuality” […] is part of a completely planned-out operation.”

Hvg reported, that the following could be read in Háttér Society’s statement:

“Despite thousands protesting and having a petition signed by more than 100,000 people, the Parliament does not care about the opinion of Hungarians.”

Luca Dudits, the communications officer of Háttér Society, also added that “even though the government is trying to make an enemy out of the LGBTQI people, the last few days have shown that Hungarians do not want hatred. In the next period,

we will focus on challenging the illegal and inhumane law at home and abroad by all available legal means”.

Hungarian Parliament voted the discriminative “homophobic law”

The amendment and the protest also drew the attention of the international scene, and Reuters has reported the following:

“Hardline nationalist Orbán has grown increasingly radical in his social policy, railing against immigrants and LGBT people in his self-styled illiberal regime, which has deeply divided the central European nation”.

In their article, Human Rights Watch commented that “this brazen demonization of a marginalized group should be illegal in a European Union member state. The law erodes core EU values of non-discrimination and tolerance guaranteed in EU treaties.

Hungary’s President, János Áder, should veto the bill and send it back to parliament for review”.

Even a Norwegian news site, Nettavisen, has published an article about the events that took place in the past couple of days concerning the anti-paedophile package of laws.

demonstration hungary
Read alsoHuge demonstration against Hungarian homophobic law – Photos

Huge demonstration against Hungarian homophobic law – Photos

demonstration hungary

Almost 80,000 have signed the petition, and more than 18,000 have signalled acceptance instead of the Propaganda Act! Budapest Pride writes in a press release, the spokesperson of which stated, “apart from the Budapest Pride Parade, the LGBTQ legal demonstration has never received such social support”.

Budapest Pride’s petition can be read here.

A number of NGOs have organised a demonstration in front of the Parliament to protest proposals for amendments to the law submitted by Fidesz politicians organisations and the sexual education they provide.

In addition to human rights defenders, the LGBTQ Section of the Hungarian Psychological Society, the Hungarian Advertising Association and the National Association of Hungarian Journalists protested against the bill.

The Reklámügynökség (Advertising Association) condemns the regulation of gender reassignment and the display of homosexuality and is concerned that the proposed bill would confuse paedophilia with sexual- and gender identity. MÚOSZ reacts similarly, writing,

“the right to basic information is violated if at certain times of the day the media is forced by law to silence real phenomena, processes, mental and biological differences. The Hungarian legislature now wants to achieve this. In addition, it confuses two unrelated things, paedophilia, which can be linked to more than one crime, and homosexuality and gender reassignment, which can in no way be considered a crime. ”

People at the demonstration on 2021. 06. 14.
source: Dávid Csordás

The demonstration kicked off at 6 pm in front of the Parliament on Monday night, in which organisers called on members of Parliament not to vote for an “amendment to the law that would enshrine children’s rights and freedom of expression.”

Many people came to the demonstration with signs, including inscriptions, like:

“Your son might be here as well”
“Reality cannot be banned”
“Love belongs to everyone”
“Can I still look at my son?”

At the end of the speeches, the organizers asked the demonstrators to go home in peace, but reach out to LGBTQ acquaintances and show their solidarity to them.

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Daily News Hungary/Boróka Dászkál

“This support is not enough to just communicate to them. It must be expressed publicly. If the topic is raised at any time, no one should be afraid to say why this evil bill is unacceptable,”

they said, and then the crowd began to chant “we will not allow it”.

The organisers stated that all means will be used in Hungary to fight this law if it will be enforced. The Parliament will vote on the bill on Tuesday.

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Budapest, Hungary. Photo: MTI
demonstration-hungary
Budapest, Hungary. Photo: MTI
PUTYIN, Vlagyimir
Read alsoHere are the most and least popular foreign politicians in Hungary

Chinese Government responds to the “offensive” statements of Budapest’s Mayor

karacsony

The Chinese Embassy in Hungary has responded to the statements announced on the demonstration held in Budapest against Fudan University last Saturday. According to the spokesman, lies and false information were expressed at the event that, among others, criticised the Chinese political system and the friendly cooperation between China and Hungary.

As we previously reported, the Hungarian campus of the Fudan University would be built in the southern part of Budapest on the eastern bank of the Danube, with four faculties – Arts and Social Studies, Medicine, Public Administration, Natural Sciences and Technology – available for 6000 national and international students. The project is also significant as Fudan Budapest would be the second-biggest Chinese university outside China. However, the project is a divisive issue between the Hungarian government and the opposition parties who organised the massive demonstration last Saturday with the motto “Yes to the Student City, no to the Chinese University Giant”.

The event was attended by thousands of participants, including

Budapest’s Mayor, Gergely Karácsony whose speech was found to be outrageous by the Chinese Embassy in Hungary.  

According to the Press Spokesman for the Chinese Embassy, the demonstration held on 5th June against the Fudan project was disrespectful and offensive, containing several false information announced by “some politicians of Budapest”. As the Hungarian news portal Telex reports, the diplomat, who has been living in Hungary for ten years, was shocked by Budapest’s Mayor, Gergely Karácsony’s speech at the event that attacked the Chinese political system and the Chinese-Hungarian friendly cooperation based on mutual respect.

The embassy’s official Facebook page responded as follows: „in broad daylight, it is unseemly to criticise the internal affairs of another country.”

According to the post, even though the Mayor has repeatedly stated that his statements did not target China or the Chinese people, his speech was full of ideological prejudices and hostility that encourages confrontation. Furthermore, the „single-handed” rename of several streets realised a few days ago – “Xinjiang independence”, “Tibet independence”, and “Hong Kong independence” – are also difficult to understand as if they were not clearly aimed at China and the Chinese people.

According to the embassy, ​​this is an interference in China’s internal affairs that sabotages the friendly cooperation between China and Hungary.

Based on the post of the Chinese Embassy in Hungary, they strongly protest, oppose and condemn this, adding that “China upholds the common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom for all mankind.” The full post can be read here:

https://www.facebook.com/ChinaEmbHungary/posts/515910499848361

At the end of the official announcement shared on Facebook, the Press Spokesman asked Budapest’s Mayor to support the friendship of the Hungarian and Chinese peoples instead and also provided three valuable bits of advice on how to be a good mayor. Accordingly, he suggested Gergely Karácsony „live up to the trust of Budapest citizens; ” to stay objective and rational” instead of misleading people with false information; and keep his “gentlemanly demeanour” when talking about China in the future.

Concerning the Fudan project in the Hungarian capital, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry told at Monday’s press conference that the Budapest campus is in the interests of all parties and is in line with current trends. Vang Ven-pin also added that the Fudan campus in Budapest is an important platform for exchange relationships. Responding to a demonstration against the campus in Budapest on Saturday, the spokesman expressed hope that “in Hungary, the relevant objective, reasonable and scientific approach can be used instead of politicizing and discussing normal “people-to-people exchanges”, maintaining bilateral friendship and cooperation.

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Read alsoGovt official: protest against Fudan project is just “political scaremongering”

Orbán cabinet: Referendum on Fudan University should be held after general election

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The government backs the idea of consulting Budapest residents in a referendum on whether they want Fudan University to be located in the capital once the facts related to the investment are fully known, Gergely Gulyás, the prime minister’s chief of staff said in an interview to media outlet Mandiner on Sunday.

Asked whether or not a Fudan University campus will be built in Budapest, Gulyás said the investment was not at a stage suitable for public debate.

Once the plans and financial terms are clear in around 18 months’ time, then a public debate should take place, he added.

  • Massive demonstration against Fudan University in Budapest – PHOTOS

Responding the opposition’s claim that Fudan University was proof of the government’s commitment to the East in preference to the West, Gulyás said that as a NATO and EU member Hungary need not make declarations of allegiance to the West.

“Despite ongoing disputes, they are our allies,” he said, adding that whereas Hungary formed part of the Western system of alliances it also sought equable relations with the world’s major powers, including China and Russia.

Meanwhile, commenting on the opposition’s primaries, Gulyás insisted that the leader of the leftist Democratic Coalition, Ferenc Gyurcsány “and his people”, were busy in the background striking deals as to who the candidate for prime minister and many individual constituency candidates should be. He said that if the opposition prevailed in the 2022 general election, Gergely Karácsony, the current mayor of Budapest, would likely end up being the premier and Gyurcsány’s wife, Klara Dobrev, would be his deputy.

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Read alsoOrbán cabinet: Referendum on Fudan University should be held after general election

Govt official: protest against Fudan project is just “political scaremongering”

crowd-demonstration-poster-molino-fudan demonstration

A government official has dismissed a demonstration organised against the establishment of the Budapest campus of China’s Fudan University on Saturday as “political scare-mongering”, arguing that the organisers were protesting on the basis of “unfounded rumours and press reports”.

Tamás Schanda, a state secretary at the innovation and technology ministry, told a press conference that protests against the university campus were “pointless” at this stage, pointing out that the project was still in the planning phase.

No decision has been made on either the finances or the project’s implementation, Schanda said, adding that those steps were not expected until the second half of 2022, when the plans for the campus were completed.

He said that if Budapest’s municipal and 9th district leadership was willing to work “instead of clowning around”, they should contribute to the talks on the project. “Otherwise it’ll be their responsibility if the site of this major urban development project turns into a rust graveyard, landfill or a large bee pasture,” he said.

“If one applies some common sense, it’s clear that the student quarter planned to be built in the area and the university complement each other well,” he added.

Schanda said Fudan University was one of the world’s top institutions with outstanding research achievements, more than 4,500 instructors and some 30,000 students. He noted that the university was eyeing Budapest as the city in which it intends to set up its first campus outside China.

The government wants Hungarian young people to be the “winners of the future”, he said, adding that the university campus together with the student quarter would make that area of Budapest’s 9th district a liveable and attractive part of the city.

parliament-crowd-demonstration-fudan
Read alsoMassive demonstration against Fudan University in Budapest – PHOTOS

Massive demonstration against Fudan University in Budapest – PHOTOS

parliament-crowd-demonstration-fudan

“Yes to the Student City, no to the Chinese University Giant” was the motto of the demonstration, which was triggered by a scandal around the planned Budapest campus of the Fudan University of China. The organisers were expecting thousands of people; Gergely Karácsony also spoke.

The announcement by the Orbán government that the Chinese Fudan University would open a campus in Budapest has stirred up a lot of emotions in Hungary. The university, which declared to service the Chinese Communist Party in its document, would be located in the planned Student City area, but this fact alone did not cause the outrage: the cost of the investment was more than 500 billion forints. You can read more HERE and HERE.

The crowd at the beginning of the demonstration, source: MTI/ Zoltán Balogh

Roughly 2-3 thousand protesters gathered in a peaceful atmosphere on Andrássy Avenue. The crowd was allowed to enter the area in a very specific way, in accordance with the preliminary announcement: the immunised people were able to enter the event area from Kodály Körönd and from Rippl-Rónai Street. Those who did not yet have an immunity certificate gathered on both sides of the service road on the section between Rippl-Rónai Street and the Heroes’ Square underground exits on Andrássy Avenue.

The protesters brought all sorts of signs with them, with messages like “we will not be a Chinese colony” and a sign labelled “O1 is the nation’s executioner.” The weather was excellent on the location, with no trace of the hail predicted in advance.

The seemingly never-ending crowd, source: MTI/ Zoltán Balogh
  • The protesters were gathering on Andrássy Avenue from 3 p.m. and marched to Kossuth Square after 4 p.m. Speeches there begun at about 5:30 p.m.
  • Participants in the demonstration, if they did not have a certificate of immunity, gathered in groups of up to 500 people, while the ones who do formed a separate, larger group.
  • The event was organised by András Jámbor. “Demonstration for the Student City, against Fidesz!” was proclaimed as a key phrase in the process. He was backed by several opposition parties and politicians.
  • The police took note of this and indicated that it complied with the epidemiological measures in force.
  • Krisztina Baranyi, the Mayor of Ferencváros; András Jámbor, the organiser of the demonstration; and Gergely Karácsony, the Lord Mayor of Budapest, spoke at Kossuth Square.
  • Áron Bereczki (Student Union), Márton Gede, and Sándor Őze (The City is for Everyone, From Street to Apartment Association, Street Lawyer) gave speeches.

“We are the majority here,” Krisztina Baranyi, the Mayor of Ferencváros, started her speech, then took a selfie with the crowd.

According to her, in the case of the foundation operating the university, the state will not have majority ownership, so the investment is not subject to public procurement rules – we are witnessing a private company being created from public funds.

Krisztina Baranyi also spoke to the Fidesz voters; the phrase “dear KDNP mass base” provoked laughter and applause from the crowd.

“The Fudan case is Fidesz’s ultimate and complete moral suicide. […] The Fudan case reveals that all their words are lies, that all their adherence to values ​​is just cunning. This reveals that nothing is sacred to them,” said Gergely Karácsony.

Gergely Karácsony, Mayor of Budapest, during his speech in front of the Parliament, source: MTI/ Zoltán Balogh

As the Lord Mayor of Budapest changed the subject to the significance of the 2022 election, he promised those present that he would take part in the opposition pre-election and the parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile, only news of the traffic chaos caused by the demonstration was published in the pro-government media, while during the demonstration, they only got to the point where László Palkovics’s deputy considered the event to be political hysteria.

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Read alsoAre there serious problems with the Hungarian immunity certificate?

Navalny supporters organise the largest street protest in modern Russian history?

Navalny Putin Opposition Russian Politics

Allies of jailed and hunger-striking Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said they plan what they hope will be the largest street protests in modern Russian history on Wednesday to highlight Navalny’s declining health and a crackdown on his supporters.

“Things are developing too quickly and too badly,” they wrote in a statement on Navalny’s website announcing their plans for nationwide protests. “We can no longer wait and postpone. An extreme situation demands extreme decisions.”

The protests, which the authorities regard as illegal and have broken up with force in the past, are planned for the same day as President Vladimir Putin gives an annual state-of-the-nation speech to the political elite.

Navalny, a fierce opponent of Putin, started refusing food on March 31 in protest at what he said was the refusal of prison authorities to provide him with adequate medical care for acute back and leg pain.

A medical trade union with ties to Navalny said on Saturday he was in a critical condition, citing medical tests which it said showed that Navalny’s kidneys could soon fail, which could lead to cardiac arrest.

Prison authorities say they have offered Navalny proper medical care but that the 44-year-old opposition politician has refused it and insisted on being treated by a doctor of his choice from outside the facility, a request they have declined.

Russia’s ambassador to Britain said in a BBC TV interview aired on Sunday that Navalny was attention-seeking, but that Moscow would ensure he lived.

“He will not be allowed to die in prison, but I can say that Mr. Navalny, he behaves like a hooligan, absolutely,” Ambassador Andrei Kelin said in the interview.

“His purpose for all of that is to attract attention for him(self).”

Navalny has said prison authorities are threatening to put him in a straitjacket to force-feed him unless he accepts food.

His supporters face the prospect of their movement being officially outlawed and declared extremist, a move that would open up activists to long jail terms.

‘LIFE HANGING BY THREAD’

Navalny’s allies had declared a moratorium on protests after staging three demonstrations at the height of winter which saw thousands detained in a harsh crackdown by authorities. Some protesters were unhappy that the demonstrations were halted, but organisers said they would hold a big protest once 500,000 people had registered online to take part.

In light of Navalny’s poor health, organisers said they were calling the protest on Wednesday anyway despite being around 40,000 people short of their target.

“Navalny is now in a prison camp and his life is hanging by a thread. We don’t know how much longer he can hold out,” they said. “The life of Alexei Navalny and the fate of Russia depend on how many citizens take to the streets on Wednesday.”

Navalny’s daughter Dasha, a student at Stanford University, made an appeal on Twitter on Sunday for her father to see a doctor of his choice.

Russia jailed Navalny for 2-1/2 years in February for parole violations he said were fabricated. He was arrested in January when he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning attack he blamed on Putin.

The Kremlin has said it has seen no evidence he was poisoned and has cast Navalny as a U.S.-backed subversive on a mission to destabilise Russia.

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