Tens of thousands of Hungarians took to the streets of Budapest to protest against Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government. They do this after a scandal in which President Katalin Novak granted a pardon in an abuse case. That's why Novak resigned last week.
Demonstrators are protesting the political culture in Hungary. They fear that the amnesty scandal will be an example of this culture and that more things will be hidden without people knowing.
A group of well-known Hungarian influencers called on people to take to the streets. They call themselves “frustrated, but very determined, opinion shapers.” They asked their followers to break out of their “political apathy.”
Tens of thousands of Hungarians responded to this call and took to the streets. They gathered in Heroes' Square and nearby Andrássy Street in Budapest.
“I don’t know exactly what we will achieve with this demonstration,” Zsolt Osvath, one of the organizing influencers, said during the demonstration. “But it is certain that we will no longer remain silent, and we will step out of the comfort zone of our computer screens.”
The president resigned last week
Last week, Hungarian President Katalin Novak resigned. She was discredited after she pardoned a man convicted of covering up the sexual abuse of minors. The convicted man was the deputy director of the orphanage where the attacks took place. In addition to the president, the Minister of Justice resigned last week.
Orban's chief of staff said he was not aware of the pardon until an uproar arose. Orban also believes the matter is over now that the president and justice minister have taken responsibility and resigned. “It's time to look to the future,” the chief of staff said on Friday.
