Government and opposition rallies held in Hungary on the anniversary of the anti-Soviet uprising – photos

On Thursday, October 23, hundreds of thousands of Hungarians filled the streets of Budapest in demonstrations organized by the country's two main political movements ahead of next spring's national elections. This was reported by the agency Associated Press.

These rival rallies have pitted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban against his main political rival, Peter Magyar, who is likely to give the longtime Hungarian prime minister the most competitive election in his 15 years in office.

Elections are due in April, but the exact date of voting has not yet been set.

Orban's supporters gathered on a bridge across the Danube on Thursday morning and began marching to the Hungarian parliament building. The rally, which organizers dubbed a "peace march," took place on Hungary's national holiday on October 23, in memory of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising that was suppressed by Soviet troops.

Participants in the march shouted slogans in support of Orban and his statements that foreign powers want to push Hungary to directly participate in Russia's war against Ukraine. At the beginning of the march, a large banner was unfurled with the inscription: "We do not want to die for Ukraine.".

Speaking at the rally, Orban accused Kyiv's European partners of dragging the European Union into war and of being ready to "send others to their deaths." He once again opposed Ukraine's membership in the EU.

Later in the day, crowds of supporters of the opposition leader filled one of Budapest's central squares and adjacent avenues for their own demonstration – both an anti-government protest and a show of support for Magyar and his center-right Tisza party.

The marchers shouted anti-government slogans, as well as "Russians, go home!" – a refrain from the 1956 Hungarian anti-Soviet uprising and a contemporary allusion to the view of many that Orban has brought the country too close to Moscow.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters who filled the huge Heroes' Square in Budapest, Magyar accused Orban of destroying the country, misusing public funds and turning Hungarians against each other.

"I urge everyone to stick together and get through these six bitter months, and then reach out to those who are gathered at another event today," Magyar said .

He called on the audience to imagine a future in which "on October 23 next year there will not be two crowds despising each other, but a single nation celebrating and smiling.".

• In September, Sybiha said that the Hungarian authorities had made Ukraine a major factor in their election campaign.
• On October 7, Orban complained that Zelensky allegedly was morally blackmailing Hungarians over Ukraine's accession to the EU.