The damage caused by the 15th of March riots cost the state approximately 30 million FT-s. (In comparison, last fall's damages were a couple of billion FT-s.) The mayor of Budapest, Mr. Gábor Demszky - who was the victim of the rioters egg throwing two weeks ago - tried to calm the tourist sector saying that this was 'a reverberation of last fall's riots, not a continuation of it.'
Nevertheless, people in the business are worried that if this year's trend continues many of them will be out of business, as tourists are not coming to the country. The tourist branch wants the government to campaign in favor of the country's image as the classical tourist marketing is not able to downplay the political turbulence. Unfortunately, the recent turbulent events have severely hurt the economy.
Source: www.turizmus.com
Friday, March 30, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Western European Press Reaction to Orbán
The German and Austrian press collectively lashed out at Orbán and Fidesz. Both the conservative and liberal written media voiced its concern over the radical rally held at the 15th of March.
DIE WELT:
For example, the main conservative newspaper in Germany, Die Welt, published an article about the current events entitled, 'In Hungary the opposition is discrediting itself.' They mention that Orbán says that one can chase away the government even in a democracy. But with what means? With the power of the streets? - asks the famous newspaper. Hundreds of demonstrators took this literally and went on to wreck havoc in the evening -Die Welt interpreted, then added: Orbán was playing with fire. This is not only bad for Hungary ( a country that Orbán headed between 1998 to 2002) but also bad for his party and its civic leaders.
SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG:
According to the liberal newspaper, one should ban the interaction between democratic politicians and drunken, extremist hooligans. However, today Viktor Orbán and Fidesz looks upon this 'professional right-wing mob' as a legitimate part of its protesting actions - says the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
DIE PRESSE:
Even the conservative Austrian daily criticizes Orbán heavily saying that Orbán is playing a dangerous game when he inflames the radical and violent youth. According to the article, the cause of Thursday's (15th of March) riots and turmoil on the one hand are the radical, violent Hungarian youth, but on the other, the leader of the conservative opposition who delivers political slogans that support the destruction caused by these extremists. In addition, Die Presse warns its readers that this kind of language is not used by a civilized, modern Central-European politician.
DER STANDARD:
Perhaps the liberal Standard summed up the events of the 15th of March the best when they write that ever since Orbán polarized the country into two camps, the nation is not able to celebrate its national holidays in decent fashion. On Thursday, it was the first time that the celebration of 'the others' was disturbed by continuous shouting and egg throwing, however.
Orbán who let the ghost out of the bottle spoke in front of tens of thousands of his most committed followers waving Árpád flags. As long as he keeps his good connections with the extreme right and its symbols, Hungary will not be a calm place, says Der Standard.
For example, the main conservative newspaper in Germany, Die Welt, published an article about the current events entitled, 'In Hungary the opposition is discrediting itself.' They mention that Orbán says that one can chase away the government even in a democracy. But with what means? With the power of the streets? - asks the famous newspaper. Hundreds of demonstrators took this literally and went on to wreck havoc in the evening -Die Welt interpreted, then added: Orbán was playing with fire. This is not only bad for Hungary ( a country that Orbán headed between 1998 to 2002) but also bad for his party and its civic leaders.
SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG:
According to the liberal newspaper, one should ban the interaction between democratic politicians and drunken, extremist hooligans. However, today Viktor Orbán and Fidesz looks upon this 'professional right-wing mob' as a legitimate part of its protesting actions - says the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
DIE PRESSE:
Even the conservative Austrian daily criticizes Orbán heavily saying that Orbán is playing a dangerous game when he inflames the radical and violent youth. According to the article, the cause of Thursday's (15th of March) riots and turmoil on the one hand are the radical, violent Hungarian youth, but on the other, the leader of the conservative opposition who delivers political slogans that support the destruction caused by these extremists. In addition, Die Presse warns its readers that this kind of language is not used by a civilized, modern Central-European politician.
DER STANDARD:
Perhaps the liberal Standard summed up the events of the 15th of March the best when they write that ever since Orbán polarized the country into two camps, the nation is not able to celebrate its national holidays in decent fashion. On Thursday, it was the first time that the celebration of 'the others' was disturbed by continuous shouting and egg throwing, however.
Orbán who let the ghost out of the bottle spoke in front of tens of thousands of his most committed followers waving Árpád flags. As long as he keeps his good connections with the extreme right and its symbols, Hungary will not be a calm place, says Der Standard.
Monday, March 19, 2007
How Many at the Fidesz Rally?
The Hungarian independent news agency, MTI, which is often reliable seems to have made a 'slight' error. MTI have been apparently non-critical when Fidesz made public their estimation of 200 thousand people attending their rally on Saturday, and chose to go with the right-wing party's estimation. According to Mihály Karácsony, a program organizer working at the Hungarian Ministry says that it is physically impossible for 200 thousand people to fit in the territory where the audience was. He measured that from the stage to Astoria there is 600 meters of available space, while the general width of the territory is 30 meters (18000 square meters overall). 3 to 4 people can fit on a square meter. If we consider this data then there could have been no more than maximum 50 thousand people at the political rally.
According to an online news site (privatbankar.hu), 100 thousand people attended the rally. They relied on police estimations. So how many were there at the rally? 200 thousand, 100 thousand, or only 50 thousand? Will this become a political debate similar to a case back in 2002 when Fidesz declared that over 2 million people attended their Kossuth Square rally?
In any case, a commercial news television station owned by a friend of Orbán (leader of Fidesz), Hír TV, reported that the thousands of people gathered at the event have many Hungarian National Flags with them, but few Árpád flags...
[Everyone with eyes could have seen the opposite either on TV or live: almost as much Árpád flags as Hungarian ones.]
Source: NOL (Népszabadság)
According to an online news site (privatbankar.hu), 100 thousand people attended the rally. They relied on police estimations. So how many were there at the rally? 200 thousand, 100 thousand, or only 50 thousand? Will this become a political debate similar to a case back in 2002 when Fidesz declared that over 2 million people attended their Kossuth Square rally?
In any case, a commercial news television station owned by a friend of Orbán (leader of Fidesz), Hír TV, reported that the thousands of people gathered at the event have many Hungarian National Flags with them, but few Árpád flags...
[Everyone with eyes could have seen the opposite either on TV or live: almost as much Árpád flags as Hungarian ones.]
Source: NOL (Népszabadság)
After the Storm
All is quiet in Budapest since Saturday night. The police were much more professional now than in the last two times; they were able to put an end to the riots and atrocities by lawful means. Luckily, all parliamentary forces seem to agree on this, even though Fidesz is still bringing up the events of 23rd of October as a counter-example. According to Hungarian media sources, the police troops have undergone extensive training on how to best deal with the rioters and riots in general.
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