Budapest marches by ruling Fidesz party and opposition Tisza will take place in a highly polarised political climate
Tens of thousands of people are expected to turn out for rival rallies by Viktor Orbán’s ruling party and his main opponent as they kick off campaigning for elections next year in a highly polarised political climate.
The anniversary on Thursday of Hungary’s thwarted 1956 uprising against Soviet rule holds a central place in the ideology of the populist far-right Fidesz party, which was once firmly anti-Soviet but has grown closer to Russia under Orbán.
Fidesz, which has been in power since 2010, has said it expected a record turnout at this year’s commemoration in Budapest and that Orbán would address his supporters at the parliament. Hailed by the party as a peace march, the rally was dealt a blow this week when it emerged that a Budapest meeting that had been mooted between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin – and touted as a personal triumph by Orbán – would not be taking place.
As it snakes its way through the capital, the ruling party’s rally will have to bypass another demonstration, that of Péter Magyar, a former Fidesz insider who has risen to become Orbán’s main competitor on the back of widespread dissatisfaction over record inflation and political scandals.
