This week is Pride week in Budapest. The festival hosts film screenings and discussions during the week and will culminate in a march this Saturday. For more information on events, check out the Budapest Pride 2009 website. (Link goes to English version, but a Hungarian version is also available - just look for the Hungarian flag.)
Although the Budapest Pride march was once a fun-filled event, in the last two years it has become the focus of violent extremists, and will be carried on this year (as last year) under heavy police protection. To learn more about the history of the Pride march, and to see videos of attacks on last year's pride march, click the "continue reading" link below.
After years of peaceful Pride demonstrations that were more like parties than political protests, Budapest became a dangerous place for Pride marchers in 2007. That year unsuspecting marchers were attacked by far-right extremists pelting them with rocks, eggs, bottles, and even feces. The stark shift to violence can be traced to political conflicts in the fall of 2006, when popular anger against the party in power flared into weeks of demonstrations and street rioting by far-right extremists. (For a brief but excellent summary of the political conflicts and related rise of far-right extremism in the last few years in Hungary, we highly recommend this recent article from the Irish Times: Economic woes and discontent with socialists fuel far right's rise.)
In 2008, both police and marchers were prepared for more violence. The police prepared heavy security, channeling the parade down Andrassy Boulevard between a metal fence barrier on one side and a convoy of police vehicles on the other, and the marchers were accompanied by a cordon of hundreds of riot-gear-equipped police officers drawn from thousands of police officers brought in to the city from around Hungary. The opposition was bigger and more organized in 2008, taking aim at the marchers -- with eggs, stones, bottles, firecrackers, and, yes, more excrement -- from all along the parade route, including a few especially concentrated areas, for example at Liszt Ferenc ter. A large group of opposition marchers battled violently with police at Heroes' Square (the planned endpoint of the march) while the parade itself was still far down at the other end of Andrassy.
As the parade approached Heroes' Square, it was diverted to a side street to avoid the conflict area, and marchers were directed to an area a few hundred meters away, behind the Műcsarnok / Kunsthalle [“Art Hall”] (across from the Museum of Fine Arts on Heroes' Square). When the marchers crossed Dózsa György utca (the street which runs along the edge of Heroes' Square and the City Park) they faced a new fusillade of eggs, stones, and other projectiles from violent protesters gathered near the Műcsarnok / Kunsthalle, separated from the Pride marchers by a cordon of police officers and more metal fencing.
Police were still trying to control the battlers at Heroes' Square, and when tear gas was used to disperse the counter-demonstrators, it soon blew over onto the Pride marchers, sending them screaming, coughing, and running in the direction of the park. The Pride marchers were not able to run very far, though, before realizing they were trapped, fenced in on all sides. On the other side of the fences, police continued to try to push back the attackers, but it was 2 more hours before the police were able to escort the parade marchers toward the Heroes' Square underground station, which had been closed for the parade. Empty trains arrived at the station to take marchers directly to the far end of Andrassy Boulevard, near the start of the parade, and people were finally able to go home.
Linda and Michael both marched in the 2008 Parade. The videos below help illustrate our experience of the day.
The first video, from a Hungarian news portal, was filmed from inside the parade. It shows clearly how the parade marchers were walking not only within fences, but between a cordon of full-riot-gear-wearing police on one side, and a convoy of large police vehicles on the other. This video also shows how it is not just the organized counter-demonstrators, but also just passers-by hurling hostility toward the parade. Some of the footage near the end of the video shows an area where protesters are concentrated in a small area, screaming insults and throwing things at the marchers. Budapesters may or may not recognize that as Liszt Ferenc ter, but it is impossible to understate the threat we felt walking by them. One last point: The video is a bit misleading because it shows a few people dancing at the end of the march. That was when we were trapped, and the dancing was more an expression of either gallows humor or defiance toward the attackers. By far, the vast majority of people were nervously standing around, not knowing how or when we would be able to safely get out of there.
The interviews are all in Hungarian, but you don't have to speak Hungarian to understand the images of the parade and the attacks.
The second video we would like to share with you is a news-type report in German, with English subtitles. (You can even see Linda and Michael from the back for a couple seconds, around minute 2:40 - Michael has a purple shirt and white hat on, and Linda is to his left with a black backpack.) The report is quite good, except for its description of the end of the march, which does not accurately explain how the marchers were trapped for several hours. However, apart from that point, this video does offer a very good report on what happened -- and even captures footage of a protester with a shaved head and nazi flag t-shirt.
One final link for those who are interested -- a photo gallery from last year's march which includes some good pictures of the clashes between police and counter-demonstrators.
This year's Pride march will be happening under still more intense security -- with not only Andrassy Boulevard but also nearby side streets blocked off -- so hopefully, we will be having a more peaceful and safe march this year.
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