Tens of thousands of supporters of right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban took to the streets of Budapest; politicians face their toughest election in 15 years next year, Reuters reports.
Hungary’s anti-Soviet uprising anniversary, which commemorates the victims of the Red Army that was called in to suppress the uprising, comes at a sensitive time for Orban. He has opposed a common European Union policy of aid to Ukraine and, despite the rest of the EU trying to isolate itself from Moscow, has maintained warm relations with Russia.
Orban, an ally of US President Donald Trump, has pinned high hopes on the planned meeting between Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Budapest. The Hungarian has said for years that he is for peace in Ukraine but has avoided discussing what it will cost his neighbor. On the evening of the 22nd of October, Trump canceled the meeting plans, citing a lack of progress in diplomatic efforts and a sense that the time was not right. The American, however, has imposed sanctions on Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, in an attempt to reduce Moscow’s ability to generate revenue from oil trade.
Hungary is heavily dependent on Russian crude, and it is unclear how the US decision will affect it.
The government did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
Orbán announced that a peace march would take place in Budapest. “Today we send a message to the whole world: Hungary says no to war! We will not die for Ukraine. We will not send our children to slaughter for the command of Brussels,” the politician wrote on social media. Some of the marchers said that the most important thing was Hungary’s sovereignty. One of Orbán’s supporters said that threats to Hungary’s sovereignty came from various directions, but the most important was the EU’s imperialist tendencies.
Orbán’s fiercest rival, Péter Magyar, has accused the Hungarian prime minister of leading an increasingly authoritarian and corrupt government. The government has denied the accusations.
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