Budapest
A celebration of the anniversary of Hungary’s 1848 revolution last week turned into another anti-government protest. About 200,000 people gathered at the rally in Budapest. Most were peaceful, but as evening fell, hundreds of right-wing demonstrators set fires, smashed property, and clashed with police. The scene was a repeat of last fall’s anti-government rallies and riots, which were sparked when Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany admitted that he lied about the economy to win re-election. The fall rallies ended only after police put up a barrier blocking the city’s central square. That barrier is now gone, and opposition groups say they will resume nightly rallies demanding that Gyurcsany resign.
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