An example of contemporary Hungarian fascism in Budapest

In other news from the European Union, not related to Brexit…Many thanks to my friend, Balázs Szücs, a city councillor in Budapest’s 7th District, for taking me to an eye-opening example of civil disobedience in Budapest’s City Park (Városliget) on Tuesday. Pro-democracy opposition activists and civil liberties demonstrators occupied the Hungarian Technical and Transportation Museum, chaining themselves to the windows, climbing up the roof and encircled the building, to protest the government’s plans to dramatically re-shape the City Park and presumably cut down dozens of trees, without sharing the final version of these plans with the public.

Police carry away a pro-democracy demonstrator. Photo: C. Adam.

Police carry away a pro-democracy demonstrator. Photo: C. Adam.

Pro-democracy demonstrators occupy the Hungarian Technical and Transportation Museum on June 28th. Photo: C. Adam

Pro-democracy demonstrators occupy the Hungarian Technical and Transportation Museum on June 28th. Photo: C. Adam

A pro-democracy demonstrator chains herself to the museum. Photo: C. Adam.

A pro-democracy demonstrator chains herself to the museum. Photo: C. Adam.

A demonstrator is removed by police. Photo: C. Adam

A demonstrator is removed by police. Photo: C. Adam

A demonstrator is taken down by police. Photo: C. Adam

A demonstrator is taken down by police. Photo: C. Adam

A protester chained to the museum. Photo: C. Adam.

A protester chained to the museum. Photo: C. Adam.

The company that manages the City Park and its controversial redevelopment (Városliget Zrt), had its security guards on site–the state’s security guards are the heavily tattooed burly men, dressed in black, that you see in my pictures. When the officers of the Budapest police arrived, they awkwardly took their instruction from these men.

One of the nameless, security guards/thugs hired to intimidate demonstrators. Photo: C. Adam

One of the nameless, security guards/thugs hired to intimidate demonstrators. Photo: C. Adam

I asked the security guards why their names were not printed on their name-tag, and along with others, asked them to reveal their names to us. They said that their name badges were in their backpacks, which were all “stolen.” So the precise identity of the Hungarian company’s third-party security officers remains a mystery.

One of the thugs hired in the employ of the Hungarian state. His name tag, like those of his colleagues, does not include his name.

One of the thugs hired in the employ of the Hungarian state. His name tag, like those of his colleagues, does not include his name. Photo: C. Adam

When another demonstrator next to me also asked for their name, the guard replied with racism:

“Why aren’t you at work, you dirty Gypsy?”–yelled the heavily tattooed thug hired by Városliget Zrt.

A  police captain looks and sounds decidedly uncomfortable as he consults with skinheads hired to guard a public institution. Photo: C. Adam

A police captain looks and sounds decidedly uncomfortable as he consults with skinheads hired to guard a public institution. Photo: C. Adam

A number of the police officers seemed visibly uncomfortable with this situation, especially the singularly soft-spoken police captain. But they had a job to do, and apparently part of that job involved taking instruction from, and consulting with nameless thugs, who are effectively employed by the state. These security guards were almost certainly the same men who in the spring physically blocked the entrance to the Hungarian Electoral Commission in Budapest, in order to prevent opposition politicians from submitting a petition. Hungarian civil servants watched and did nothing inside the building, as unknown, burly men, dressed all in black, determined who was allowed to enter, and who could not, this government ministry.

All in all, there were approximately a hundred demonstrators, most of whom were not affiliated with any party, but were environmentalists and/or pro-democracy activists.

Gergő Komáromy. Photo: C. Adam.

Gergő Komáromy. Photo: C. Adam.

Gergő Komáromy, the activist at the centre of the demonstration, who managed to climb the roof of the museum, was forcibly taken by police, against his will, to the psychiatric ward of the Nyírő Gyula hospital. He had no choice, but to stay overnight, even though he told police and paramedics numerous times that he was fine, and had no need for psychiatric help. The police disagreed, arguing that Mr. Komáromy may have suffered sunstroke and might be suicidal.

Mr. Komáromy added that after keeping him in the ward for nearly 24 hours, the doctors agreed to release him, noting that there was nothing wrong with his mental health.

The young activist plans to lodge a formal complaint against the police decision to take him to psychiatric ward.

What happened in Budapest on Tuesday is a textbook example of fascism: groups of private, nameless thugs and de facto militias, who physically intimidate and spew racist insults, are mysteriously engaged by the Hungarian state. This is not an isolated situation–we have seen almost the exact same scene this past February, in front of the Electoral Commission’s headquarters.

For those who lived through the seventies and eighties in the Eastern bloc, the news that police decided to take an activist in for a psychiatric evaluation will likely bring back some memories of how authorities then dealt with alternative cultural circles and others who protested the regime in their own way.

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