Opposition parties, led by Momentum, staged a demonstration for the third Tuesday in a row against the restrictions on the right to assembly and the ban on Pride in Budapest.
Occupying multiple bridges for a few evening hours, many on the Fidesz side called them out for being irresponsible and simply disruptive.
According to the Telex news portal, independent MP Ákos Hadházy said that protests should continue until the amendment to the assembly law is withdrawn and announced a 24-hour demonstration for next week.
Theologian Rita Perintfalvi said: “Orbán could have been a new Ferenc Deák, but he became a neo-fascist and a communist who changed his tune.”
Momentum led the crowd of protesters to occupy Liberty Bridge, Petőfi Bridge, and Margaret Bridge. The demonstration ended after 10 in the evening, according to Telex, with traffic on Liberty Bridge starting at 11 p.m.
Pro-government media were quick to denounce the action. “There are countless things that are beyond the boundaries of good taste,” wrote Zoltán Felföldi in Magyar Nemzet, adding that nobody is banning the right to assembly. “Banning Pride is not a restriction on the right to assembly in general, nor even a restriction on the right to assembly of a specific social group – in this case, the LGBTQ community,” he says. It is simply banning “the public display of certain things” to protect children.
Meanwhile, government spokesperson Alexandra Szentkirályi stated on Facebook that protesters were “once again paralyzing traffic in the capital with bridge closures,” accusing them of wanting “to assert their own political survival against the interests of the majority.”
Although she then asserted that “everyone has the right to express their opinions and disagreements,” she claims the obstructions went too far by “paralyzing the transportation of hundreds of thousands.”
