Increased police patrols have been introduced throughout Budapest from Friday noon to Saturday morning after a third attempt by an individual to organize a rally linked to a call by the Hamas terrorist organization.
Most recently, the organizer announced the event for Friday in the second district of Budapest, which was banned by police. Although the increased police control does not yet mean a higher alert level due to a terrorist threat, police officers will be able to carry out more frequent checks in public areas.
According to Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet, the current increased police controls means that officers can check people entering or staying in a public place or a designated area of a public space, as determined by the head of the police service. The goal is to prevent any act that could threaten public safety.
Police are permitted to search a building, structure, parcel or vehicle in order to prevent an incident.
Last Friday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that his country would not permit rallies as seen across Western Europe this week in support of the attack on Israel by the Hamas terrorist group.
“There will be no pro-terror demonstrations in Hungary,” Orbán wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, as he vowed to “protect the people of Hungary.”
Europe has already suffered a number of terror attacks in recent days, including a shooting attack in Brussels that left two Swedish nationals dead.
