Far-right protestors (R) clash with police (L) in central Budapest as Hungary marked the anniversary of its 1956 anti-Soviet uprising. Police fired rubber bullets at the protestors as Hungary marked the anniversary of its 1956 anti-Soviet uprising amid the worst political divisions in the country since the end of communism.
(AFP) |
Police fired rubber bullets at far-right protestors on the streets of Budapest as Hungary marked the anniversary of its 1956 anti-Soviet uprising amid the worst political divisions in the country since the end of communism.
Police also used tear gas and water cannons to try to disperse thousands of protestors in locations across the city on Monday, with one group of protestors battling to reach the parliament where Hungarian and foreign dignitaries gathered for ceremonies to mark the 1956 uprising.
The main opposition right-wing Fidesz party, which has sought to compare Hungary's current prime minister to the former Soviet oppressors, boycotted the official ceremonies.
That boycott, combined with the riots, torpedoed efforts to put on a show of national unity 50 years after the uprising and 17 years after the proclamation of democracy in Hungary, which joined the European Union in 2004.
"Transitions are never easy, but Hungary's achievements over the past 16 years are substantial," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told dignitaries assembled in the ornate parliament building.
Barroso was among dozens of foreign dignitaries in town for the anniversary, among them 19 European presidents, a couple of prime ministers, the king of Norway and the head of NATO.
"The people of Hungary now have a great opportunity in their grasp," said Barroso. "By uniting, with purpose, they will be able to reap the full benefits that membership of the European Union offers."
But unity appeared more elusive than ever before in the post-communist era, despite the legacy of the uprising in which a nation came together in a mass upheaval against Stalinist oppression.
The uprising, which started out as a peaceful student protest on October 23, 1956, turned into armed resistance across Hungary, with youngsters, dubbed freedom fighters, grabbing guns and Molotov cocktails in fierce street battles against Soviet tanks sent to put down the protests.
The uprising was crushed two weeks later, sealing Hungary's fate as a satellite state of Moscow until the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989.
The crackdown resulted in the death of 2,800 Hungarians. A further 12,000 were wounded and 200,000 fled to the West.
Fidesz went ahead with its boycott despite an appeal by the country's president on Sunday to celebrate the uprising as one people.
The party has sought to compare Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany to the former Soviet oppressors, saying both had "lied" to keep power, after revelations that Gyurcsany misled voters on the economy to win re-election in April.
On Monday, it was Gyurcsany's turn to remind Fidesz and its leader, former prime minister Viktor Orban, not to confuse current political debates with the uprising.
"1956 was about the fight for freedom, while 2006 is about the order of freedom and democracy.... The 1956 revolution was replaced by the debates of a democracy," he said in parliament.
Gyurcsany has admitted to lying to voters in a recording leaked in mid-September, which triggered more than a month of anti-government protests that degenerated into street violence.
But he said that this was merely an "excuse" for Fidesz's boycott.
Fidesz has for years refused to commemorate the uprising anniversary with the Socialists because it says that they are the inheritors of the communist party that colluded with the Soviets back in 1956.
The 45-year-old Gyurcsany was born five years after the uprising but was a communist youth leader in the 1980s.
The unrest that gripped Budapest started Monday morning when police fought with a small group of far-right protestors, detaining 10 of them and leaving several people with bloodied faces after the confrontation.
There followed a lull of several hours. But by late afternoon, trouble had broken out across the capital.
Several hundred riot police on downtown Deak square were firing tear gas canisters and using three water cannons to disperse the crowd, an AFP reporter said.
Mobile units were chasing small groups of protesters into nearby streets, while helicopters hovered overhead.
MTI news agency reported clashes between police and protesters in two other locations, near the Western Railway Station and near the parliament building, with protestors hurling rocks and pieces of metal at the security forces.
Protestors also broke down the security fences surrounding the square in front of the parliament.
Some far-rightists carried flags used by the pro-Nazi Arrow Cross party regime during World War Two.
