Hungary Opposition Calls Off Rally
BUDAPEST, Hungary (Reuters) -- Hungary's opposition Fidesz party on Thursday called off its planned anti-government rally at the weekend, which the government had warned would cause week-long violent protests to escalate.
"In the interest of the peaceful and well-meaning citizens Fidesz has decided to delay the event," a senior Fidesz official Laszlo Kover told a news conference.
Budapest has been on edge after protests on Monday and Tuesday turned violent in the most serious disturbances since a 1956 uprising against Soviet occupiers.
Wednesday night's protests were peaceful, although National Ambulance spokesman Pal Gyorfi told news agency MTI that 16 people had been taken to hospital with injuries. That number was far lower than the more than 200 injured on previous nights.
"We have done everything to maintain order and public safety and we have been successful," Budapest police chief Peter Gergenyi told Hungarian television. (Watch protesters gather outside a TV station in Budapest -- :42)
An estimated 15,000 gathered at the neo-Gothic parliament
"In the interest of the peaceful and well-meaning citizens Fidesz has decided to delay the event," a senior Fidesz official Laszlo Kover told a news conference.
Budapest has been on edge after protests on Monday and Tuesday turned violent in the most serious disturbances since a 1956 uprising against Soviet occupiers.
Wednesday night's protests were peaceful, although National Ambulance spokesman Pal Gyorfi told news agency MTI that 16 people had been taken to hospital with injuries. That number was far lower than the more than 200 injured on previous nights.
"We have done everything to maintain order and public safety and we have been successful," Budapest police chief Peter Gergenyi told Hungarian television. (Watch protesters gather outside a TV station in Budapest -- :42)
An estimated 15,000 gathered at the neo-Gothic parliament
posted by Make change ... at 6:08 PM
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