BUDAPEST, Hungary — The street violence that gripped the Hungarian capital appeared to be ebbing Thursday after three nights of unrest but political tensions rose as the main opposition party refused the prime minister’s offer to meet.
Fewer than 100 protesters milled around Kossuth Square, the plaza abutting parliament, by early morning, out of a crowd of about 15,000 that crowded it hours earlier.
The unrest and calls for Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany’s resignation began after leaks of his taped comments that he had “lied morning, evening and night” about the economy.
Gyurcsany has stood his ground since the protests began Sunday evening, insisting that his government intended to press ahead with economic reforms.
“The policy of raw emotions and radicalism are in no way a viable path,” he said Wednesday, adding: “The government doesn’t want to change its policy.”
He called for talks Thursday with parliamentary leaders in what would be his first face-to-face meeting with the opposition since the rioting began.
But the overture was unlikely to defuse tensions: Only the Hungarian Democratic Forum, with 11 parliamentary deputies, accepted. The two larger center-right opposition groups, which together account for 163 of the 386 seats in the legislature, said they would not attend.
“It makes no sense to hold talks with the government,” said Peter Szijjarto, spokesman of Fidesz, the biggest opposition party. “Ferenc Gyurcsany is not the solution but the problem.”
Police, outfitted with stronger riot gear after previous clashes left over 100 officers injured, mobilized to disperse hundreds of demonstrators who taunted police for several hours early Thursday. Fifteen protesters were injured, including two seriously hurt by tear gas canisters, authorities said.
While worrying, that unrest was considerably less than the riots and looting that left hundreds hurt and caused damage valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The tape that started the crisis was made at a closed-door meeting in late May, weeks after Gyurcsany’s government became the first in post-communist Hungary to win re-election.
Fidesz leader Viktor Orban, who served as prime minister between 1998-2002, has been among Gyurcsany’s harshest critics and at the forefront of demands that Gyurcsany and his Cabinet resign.
Orban has proposed setting up a temporary “government of experts,” including economists and other professionals, to put the country’s economy back in order.
Gyurcsany’s refusal to step down sparked violence unrivaled since the anti-Soviet revolution 50 years ago. For several days, police battled thousands of radicals trying to storm strategic or symbolic buildings.
Close to 200 people have been taken into custody since the riots erupted early Tuesday.
