HUNGARY:MORE THAN 100,000 Hungarians have taken to the streets in opposing rallies ahead of today's meeting between prime minister Viktor Orban and European Commission president José Manuel Barroso, at which Budapest's contentious laws and its application for financial aid will be discussed.
In neighbouring Romania, demonstrations calling for snap elections and an end to austerity claimed their first high-profile victim, when premier Emil Boc sacked foreign minister Teodor Baconschi for making insulting remarks about protesters.
Mr Orban travels to Brussels seeking to prevent the EU taking legal action against Hungary over laws governing its central bank, judiciary and data protection authority.
The European Union and International Monetary Fund have refused to start talks on a €15 billion-€20 billion credit line for Hungary until Mr Orban changes laws they believe threaten the independence of the central bank.
The controversial rules were introduced under a constitution that came into force on New Year’s Day and which critics claim amounts to a power-grab by Mr Orban.
He says the legal overhaul is required to modernise Hungary.
“The Hungarian government will make flexible negotiating proposals,” said Mihaly Varga, Mr Orban’s chief of staff. “The loan agreement should be sealed by March-April,” he added.
Mr Orban received a boost on Saturday when more than 100,000 people marched through Budapest in support of his leadership.
“The aim is to show that this government is not alone and enjoys strong support from Hungarian society,” said organiser Zsolt Bayer.
“The European Union needs to see that we agree with most of the government’s measures and that we feel bad about what the EU is doing to us.”
On Sunday, about 10,000 rallied in Budapest in support of free media and popular talk-radio station Klubradio, which is the only big radio station to air criticism of Mr Orban.
His media authority has refused to grant a new broadcasting licence to the station and it is expected to vanish within weeks.
The EU and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe – chaired by the Republic this year – have raised concerns over Mr Orban’s attitude towards Hungarian media, which is governed by a strict law enforced by a powerful council filled with his allies. Several other reforms have also drawn EU and US anger.
After implementing cutbacks required by the IMF as part of an aid package, Romania’s government is now under pressure to end austerity and resign. This follows 11 days of protest that have brought thousands on to the streets of Bucharest.
Most of the rallies have been peaceful. But police clashed with small groups of people throwing stones and petrol bombs, whom Mr Baconschi derided as “inept and violent slum-dwellers”.