Protests in Budapest

Oh, nimhhhhhh, what do you think?



Link to Globe and Mail article


Part of the article -

'Longest, darkest night' for Hungary
Associated Press

BUDAPEST ?- Protesters clashed with police and stormed the headquarters of Hungarian state television early Tuesday ?- a violent response to a leaked recording of Hungary's Prime Minister admitting officials had lied about the economy.

Officials said about 150 people were injured in the violence, including 102 police officers, one of whom suffered serious head injuries and was described on state television as being in satisfactory condition after undergoing an operation to remove a bone splinter from his skull.

Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany told reporters later the overnight riots were "the longest and darkest night" for the country since the end of communism in 1989. He said police had been taken by surprise. Mr. Gyurcsany has refused to resign, as protesters have demanded.

Several thousand police reinforcements were called to the capital from across the country. Police succeeded in retaking the TV building and driving out protesters only after 3 a.m., more than five hours after the incidents started.

Police were controlling access to the area around the TV building on Tuesday morning, which also includes the National Bank of Hungary and the U.S. Embassy.

Justice Minister Jozsef Petretei, who also oversees the police force, submitted his resignation because of the outbreak of violence, but his offer was rejected by Mr. Gyurcsany.

The violence came after a mainly peaceful protest outside parliament attended by several thousand people began late Sunday, when a recording made in May was leaked to local media in which Mr. Gyurcsany admitted to repeatedly having lied to the country about the true state of the Hungarian economy to win April's elections.

Mr. Gyurcsany has not denied making the statements and said Monday evening that he had no plans to resign. Members of his Socialist party in parliament voted unanimously in support of the prime minister. The government called for an emergency session of the National Security Cabinet for Tuesday morning.

(End of clip, but there is more to the article)