BUDAPEST, Hungary — BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Thousands of Hungarians congregated on the streets of Budapest on Thursday in a show of force on behalf of their leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who six months ahead of parliamentary elections looks set to face the most competitive ballot in his 15 years in power.
The gathering, dubbed a “peace march” by organizers, came on Hungary’s Oct. 23 national holiday, a remembrance of a failed anti-Soviet uprising in 1956 that was crushed by the Red Army. Marchers shouted slogans backing Orbán and his message that Hungary is at risk of becoming directly involved in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
