Hungarian police braced for holiday protests

Hungarians are today marking the anniversary of the country’s 1948 revolution, but while some are celebrating a national holiday, others are preparing a mini-revolution of their own. Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany attended a ceremony in Budapest, but his political opponents are holding rallies calling for his socialist government to quit.

Police are out in force and claim to have already seized stocks of home-made Molotov cocktails and firearms in raids ahead of the demonstration. The pressure is on opposition leader Viktor Orban to mobilise large numbers of protesters. Last year he failed to oust Gyurcsany, after the Prime Minister admitted he had lied to get elected. That admission sparked violent protests that lasted for two months and left 800 police and demonstrators injured.

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