dear Chris and all,

Thanks for the attention!

Yesterday there were different commemoration events of 1848 March 15 (outbreak of war for independence).

I was at the peaceful Fidesz commemoration which staterd at 4 pm. The stage was at Elizateth's bridge (pest side), and the crowd was at least 200 thousand people, and fulfilled a very big part of Rakoczi road, even after Astoria!!! It was quite a special moment, showing that people are not afraid, and dare to stand up for their right to celebrate, and go into the street, despite all (MSZP-SZDSZ)governmental attempts, to intimidate people! Fidesz organizers, as usual, did their security job very well, there was no incident there. There were international speakers delivering a speech too, like Lithuanian Vitautas Landsbergis, a key fugure in the Baltic changes in the early 90s, the Italian vice president of Europe Parliament's People's Party. International supervisors were present too in large number, to report in case of any violence did to the peaceful crowd by the police.

Even the official Hungarian news agency , MTI reported 200 thousand people, but later I heard that Fidesz organizers said the number was quarter a million, so 250 thousand people. Anyway, the most important thing is that poeple dare to go into the street and commemorate and protest peacefully! So it was clear, if police don't attack, peace is there.

The huge crowd went home peacefully!!
then, later in the evening the news came that there were fights between radical demonstrators and police. The location of these fight s were different and far from the Fidesz commemoration place. I saw the pics on tv, and as generally agreed, police were acting in a different way from last year! They didn't use rubber bullet, and wore identification number. Their weapons were teargas and water canon.
There are teories why the fights in the evening started again:

1. mainly initiated by the fact that the police caught and arrested an extreme group leader in the morning of March 15, Budahazy Gyorgy, which activated his supporters during the day(2 thousand people , at the most, but rather between 1000-1500 people, i guess) The police had been 'searhing' for him since September last year. His supporters learning about his arrest, which strangely, the police well publicized on media, went to free him.

2. There are these radical people, mixing with little extreme groups, whose aim have been to start violence, call attention, and fight, in any way. Their weapons were setting fire to different litterbins and telephone boxes, construction panels, and using them as barricades. They also used glass bullets shot from a special home made instrument , composed of wood and rubber ribbons, (which children use to shoot birds, for example (csuzli in Hungarian).

Anyway, as i said , police action against these groups was quite different from the autumn ones, they were more human, and i hear that about 5 radical demontsrators, and 4-5 policemen got hurt in the evening fights.

During the day of March 15, there were different commemorations. In the morning, there was one at Kossuth square (behind the still existing iron fence araound the parliament, what is more, the police built an additional one). World wide infamous liar prime minister, Gyurcsany Ferenc (BBC at the beginning of 2007 awarded him with the title of the 2nd most stupid person of 2006, the first one being Dick Cheney, and third being the wife of Tony Blair). So, this (temporary)prime minister, Gyurcsany , unusually didn't make any speech on the comemoration day of March 15, just stood at different state, nor did his fellow government ministers. The usual state commemoration in front of the national museum was was also scandalous, but not because of the radical groups welcoming Gyurcsany there with a storm of whistles and swear words (eg.Gyurcsany takarodj - Gyurcsany fuck off), but the program's organizing. This was repeated when at Batthyany forever candle, no minister made a speech, and Gyurcsany didn't even go there to place the wreath of memory there for the martyr prime minister of the 1848 revolution. Only one of his ministers, the 'liberal' Molnar Lajos went there, but he was too afraid of the 20 or so noisy and whistling protesters (he was called 'Dr.Mengele' because of his 'reforms' in the 'health care' field there by those at present) but didn't dare to get out of his car.

Later, at 1 pm. the Lord Mayor (calls himself 'liberal') Demszky Gabor delivered a usual speech in the name of Budapest at statue of Petofi, a historical place. He had to be protected by body guards with folding umbrellas as he was welcomed by a 500 member radical group
with eggs and fruits. It was televised live on state Hungarian television, his voice was quite low, and got hoarse by the middle of his speech, upon the fact that , despite the amplification, the protesting crowd present was louder. One egg hit the target, so his dress showed the content of one egg... Anyway , Gyurcsany and his wife and some government members were there too. Demszky, with his arrogant speech just gave additional fuel to the noisy radical protesters, and the theater -lke performance too, which had nothing to do with 1848 , the commemoration, so people generally got disgusted by that program in front of the TV.

Anyway, Fidesz comdemned the Lord Mayor being thrown by eggs by the radical group members, saying it was not fair to the commemoration. Anyway, these groups had many Arpad flags, and 1848 was about the Hungarian tri-color flag, and the national tricolour cockage, so the national colours, and not the Arpad flag.

The Fidesz commemoration started at 4 pm, and Fidesz leaders in the press , days before asked their supporters not to bring any party flag to the commemoration, only the tri-colour national flag, as the symbol of the 1848 revolution and war for independence. (still some Arpad flags were there visible, amongs the national (red ,white, green)tricolour flags, but as experts say, you can't 'discriminate' people, or shut out, if they want to go there with that. There is freedom of thoughts, if they want to do that, and as the oroginal Arpad flag officially doesn't represent (or considered ) any tyrant symbol, unlike the well-visibly modified one during WWII, there is no problem with that, even if it doesn't suit the atmostphere of 1848.

Anyway, there was a very important message given by Fidesz leader Orban Viktor, who was the last speaker at the Fidesz commemoration in front of 200 thousand people. He said that people should keep the law, and that the last legal way in the hand of people to get rid of the Gyurcsany government, and the new, arrogant and incompetent aristocracy they represent, is the success of referendum which is due later this year, in the autumn or winter. The referendum officially will be, it's a fact, and this is the only way to make the government see that people generally don't like their working, no matter they stand on the right or left field. However, if the Gyurcsany government won't resign after that referendum due late autumn this year, people will have all the right to chase them, making them 'run away' as fast as possible!

Anyway, unlike in the past,some days ago New York Times and International Herald Tribune attacked Gyurcsany in articles. It's a positive sign, and hoping that the infamous Hungarian liar prime minister Gyurcsany will consider the 'new' messages as well.

have a nice day!

best wishes,
Zoli