War in Ukraine: Demonstrations in the Hungarian Capital

Early afternoon on Saturday, pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian solidarity demonstrations were organized roughly at the same time in the center of Budapest, not too far from each other.

Organized by the Hungarian Ukrainian Cultural Association and the Unity Ukrainian Association, more than a thousand people arrived at Deák Square at 1 pm to protest against the demonstration in support of Russia announced for today. The pro-Russia sympathy demonstration at the Soviet military memorial in Szabadság ('Liberty') Square started an hour later, with 100-200 people attending, according to press reports.

The pro-Russian protesters say the United States is responsible for the war and that "excessive sanctions" against Russia are causing a food and energy crisis in the world.

According to the Ukrainian counter-protesters, "since 1956, we have learned and felt what it means when the Kremlin interferes in the internal affairs of a free country, when it imposes its will on a democratic country. Ukraine will now experience this in 2022 with even more bloodshed and more innocent victims," the popular news site telex.hu reported.