Yesterday, May 1st, Hungary officially celebrated Labor Day. The day was full of picnics, carnival rides, and cultural events, such as the Szentendre Skanzen’s 50th anniversary celebration (which you can read more about here).
On top of these cultural celebrations, May 1st played host, as it always has, to rallies and speeches by left-wing political parties such as the Hungarian Workers’ Party (the remnants of the old ruling Communist Party), the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSzP), the Greens (LMP), and the Democratic Coalition. The far-right Jobbik party, which has been shifting toward the center in recent years, held a rally yesterday as well, while the ruling Fidesz-KDNP sat the day out.
And in addition to the traditional political rallies, yesterday afternoon also saw a massive protest, against the government and its controversial ‘Lex CEU’ higher education amendment. The protest was staged by the Momentum Movement, a group that first came to political prominence earlier this year when it successfully collected enough signatures to force a referendum on Budapest’s plans to host the 2024 Olympic Games; in light of this referendum, the city’s bid was withdrawn soon after.
You can view photos of the Skanzen celebrations, political rallies, and evening protests, below:
An audience at the Szentendre Skanzen, viewing a concert celebrating the open-air museum’s 50th anniversary (Photo: MTI- Balázs Mohai)
Visitors to the Skanzen, where all programs were free yesterday (Photo: MTI- Balázs Mohai)
Composer and violin and citera virtuoso Félix Lajkó performing at the Szentendre Skanzen (Photo: MTI- Balázs Mohai)
Jobbik party leader Gábor Vona (right), speaking at his party’s May Day rally at the Hajógyári Island (Photo: MTI- Attila Kovács)
LMP (Politics Can Be Different) leaders at a party press conference expressing opposition to current government plans to renovate Budapest’s City Park (Photo: MTI- Balázs Mohai)
László Botka, Mayor of Szeged and Hungarian Socialist Party MSzP’s candidate for prime minister in the 2018 elections, speaking at a rally in Budapest’s City Park (Photo: MTI- Balázs Mohai)
Former Prime Minister and leader of the left-wing opposition party Democratic Coalition (DK) Ferenc Gyurcsány speaking at his party’s May 1st event in Budapest’s City Park (Photo: MTI- Balázs Mohai)
Party leader Gyula Thürmer at the Hungarian Workers’ Party rally at the Kodáy Körönd square in Budapest (Photo: MTI- Balázs Mohai)
Hungarian Workers’ Party supporters marching down Budapest’s Andrássy Boulevard, carrying a banner reading “NATO will lead us to war, the EU will lead us to poverty! An independent Hungary!” (Photo: MTI- Balázs Mohai)
Participants in the Momentum Movement’s “We Belong to Europe!” protest on Heroes’ Square (Photo: MTI- Zoltán Balogh)
András Fekete-Győr, president of the Momentum Movement, at his party’s rally yesterday night (Photo: MTI- János Marjai)
Participants in the Momentum Movement’s rally, marching down Andrássy Boulevard toward Heroes’ Square (Photo: MTI- Zoltán Balogh)
Images via MTI