Hungarian police used tear gas against groups of extremist demonstrators in Budapest early Thursday, following a largely peaceful rally of more than 10,000 people calling for Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany to step down. Officers chased roughly 80 skinhead protesters as the main crowd dispersed from parliament, and separate clashes near Oktogon square left 12 demonstrators injured, three of them seriously.
The unrest stems from revelations that Gyurcsany admitted to fellow Socialist lawmakers in May that he had misled the public about the country's economic troubles in order to secure his April re-election victory. The disclosure triggered three consecutive nights of protests in front of parliament, with Monday and Tuesday seeing the worst violence, resulting in more than 200 injuries and 137 arrests.
A heavy riot-police presence Thursday appeared better coordinated than in previous nights, helping authorities contain scattered militant groups before the capital's streets cleared by around 3 a.m. Two bomb hoaxes prompted partial evacuations of two television stations during the evening.
Gyurcsany has pursued strict austerity measures, including tax hikes and public-sector job cuts, aimed at reducing Hungary's budget deficit, the highest in the European Union at 10.1 percent of GDP. The opposition Fidesz party, leading in opinion polls, is calling for his resignation ahead of local elections scheduled for 1 October.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in September 2006, in its own words.