Thousands of protesters took to the streets of central Budapest on Saturday, marching to the offices of Prime Minister Viktor Orban to demand his resignation over alleged child abuse in state juvenile institutions.
The protesters, seen carrying soft toys and torches, were led by Orbán’s main rival, Peter Magyar, who carried a banner that read: “Let’s protect the children.”
Protesters walked across the Danube River, many of them heading towards Orbán’s offices on Castle Hill.
“Normally after a case like this, the government is brought down,” one protester told AFP news agency. “For them, the problem is not that the abuse occurred, but that it was exposed.”
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The protests followed the publication this week of a video showing staff at a Budapest juvenile correctional facility physically abusing children.
Prosecutors are investigating the center’s former director on suspicion of crimes including running a prostitution ring and physically and sexually abusing minors.
Several employees of the facility have also been detained.
In 2024, the President of Hungary, Katalin Novak, and the Minister of Justice, Judit Varga, resigned over the pardon granted to a partner of a child molester at a public orphanage.
Orban government accused of supporting abusers
Magyar told the crowd that Orbán had promised to improve the situation of children, however, “it turned out that every member of the Orbán government sided with the abusers.”
The Tisza party leader has steadily become Hungary’s most popular politician, and the biggest rival of Orbán’s ruling right-wing populist Fidesz party.
Magyar is leading Orban in most independent polls ahead of elections in April next year.
The government condemned the abuses and justified its actions, saying that these cases show that the child protection system is working.
However, people on the streets did not agree.
One protester told The Associated Press, “In other countries, the entire government would have fallen because of this scandal. But here we see them clinging to power with all their might.” He also said that he believed the Orbán government “will be over” by the time of the election.
Edited by: Wesley Rahn