Hundreds of protesters blocked a Budapest bridge on Thursday, protesting for a third day in a row against reforms by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government.
These are the first mass demonstrations since the re-election of the conservative prime minister in April.
Mr Orban’s party “proved in 100 days that everything he promised was a lie”, Peter Marki-Zai, the head of the opposition alliance defeated by the 59-year-old populist right-wing prime minister, told the crowd.
The protesters – there were several thousand the day before Wednesday – complain that the tax reform, which abolishes some of the rates, will increase taxes, particularly affecting thousands of small traders. “Enough!” shouted the crowd outside the Hungarian parliament yesterday.
The eastern European country, in difficult talks with Brussels about the funds it hopes to receive to support its economy, is faced with an explosive increase in inflation, which has reached its highest level in the last two decades, and a free fall of the forint. of its currency.
The government yesterday moved to abolish the price cap on household electricity and natural gas consumption, a flagship policy of Mr. Orban, which will especially hurt those with above-average consumption. He announced the same day a “state of emergency” to deal with the energy crisis. It envisages increasing coal production while at the same time asking households to reduce consumption.
SOURCE: APE-ME
Source: Capital
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