Double Сordon and Snipers at Orbán's Speech: Hungary Marks 68th Anniversary of Revolution and Freedom Struggle
Today, Hungary marks the 68th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, which was crushed by Soviet tanks. The celebration of the anniversary of the revolution and liberation struggle officially began with the raising of the national flag. Viktor Orbán is also celebrating in the capital for the first time in three years, and he may be preparing for the most difficult speech of his life on 23 October, Telex reports.
The venue for Orban's speech is surrounded by a double cordon and is additionally guarded by snipers. Journalists are hermetically sealed in.
The day before, US intelligence had informed Hungarian officials that saboteurs were preparing mass armed riots on 23 October. Hungarian security services detained several suspects.
23 October is one of the most important national days in Hungary. This is the day when Budapest residents, led by university students, stood up against the communist regime in Russia. Fighting broke out in the streets and the uprising ended in massive bloodshed. The demonstrators demanded, among other things, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country and the revision of Hungarian-Soviet relations on an equal footing, as well as the establishment of a new democratic government headed by the disgraced Communist Party Politburo member and former Speaker of Parliament Imre Nadezhda. The protesters also demanded free general elections on a multi-party basis, freedom of expression and the establishment of independent media.
Until 1989, the topic of the anti-Communist uprising against the rule of the pro-Stalinist dictatorship of Matias Rakosi's successor, Ernő Gere, and the Soviet occupation in the former Hungarian People's Republic was banned. It was discussed only in the context of the so-called counter-revolution, which was allegedly organised by ‘enemies of socialism’ with the assistance of the ‘capitalist West’. It was only after the change of the socio-political system in Hungary that the first democratic parliament of Hungary declared 23 October 1990 a national day.