Schröder Joins Large Anti-Fascist Rally

"It is an honour to support you who have been exposed to far-right attacks,” Schröder told the crowd. They applauded when he said “many such demonstrations against extremist forces are needed”.

Many Socialist and Free Democrat MPs were also visible as were Democratic Forum deputy chairman Károly Herényi and Israeli ambassador Aliza Bin-noun.

The two sides gathered outside the ticket office in which a radical right-winger accused staff of refusing to sell her a ticket to see the far-right rock group Hungarica. The chief organiser of the far-right demonstration, Tamás Polgár, known by his blogger name Tomcat, was allowed to go into the office, where he bought two tickets for the concert. Police detained three people.

After the demonstrations ended, the extreme right group, including members of the Magyar Gárda, moved to Szabadság tér, where they removed wreaths from the Soviet heroes memorial. Several hundred of them proceeded to Roosevelt tér around 8 p.m., but were stopped by riot police outside the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Police detained the ringleaders, including Tomcat and György Budaházy, on Clark Ádám tér after closing the Chain Bridge and the Tunnel in Buda.

Police detained 59 people in total on Friday evening. Most of them had failed to obey police instructions and three were in possession of equipment endangering public security. Five of the six people who damaged the Soviet memorial are still being sought.

President László Sólyom visited the ticket office Friday morning to express support for the anti-fascist demonstration. He told reporters that nothing can justify racist-motivated violence and incitement to hatred. Fidesz 13th District councillor György Szabó, who led an ant-fascist rally last Monday, said he had received death threats from far-right groups and that he and his family have moved house.

Fidesz spokesman Péter Szíjjártó said everything which diverts attention from the current government crisis and social hardships benefits the government. He said the government’s inability to solve such a situation on the street perfectly illustrates its incompetence. As long as his party is a factor in Hungarian politics, no ethnic minorities need fear in Hungary, he continued, as Fidesz will protect them, and not merely declare solidarity with them."

Source: Hungary Around the Clock.

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