Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Hungarians protest against corruption, want tax chief sacked

Published 11/09/2014, 04:14 PM
Updated 11/09/2014, 04:20 PM
© Reuters A woman carries a placard with the likeness of Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban as thousands of Hungarians protest against perceived corruption at the country's tax authority and lack of wider democratic freedoms, in Budapest

© Reuters A woman carries a placard with the likeness of Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban as thousands of Hungarians protest against perceived corruption at the country's tax authority and lack of wider democratic freedoms, in Budapest

By Krisztina Fenyo and Marton Dunai

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Thousands of Hungarians demonstrated against alleged corruption at the country's tax authority and for wider democratic freedoms in Budapest on Sunday in the latest protest to rock the country's politics.

The protests against the populist centre-right government, notably against a planned tax on the Internet, show that despite a big majority in parliament, Prime Minister Viktor Orban faces increasingly vocal opposition from civil society.

Orban has raised eyebrows among Western partners, including the United States and the European Union, for policies that have penalized big businesses, limited democratic freedoms and - his critics say - pulled Hungary closer into the Kremlin's orbit.

The Sunday rally demanded the dismissal of tax chief Ildiko Vida, who admitted earlier this week she was one of several people - including government officials - who were barred entry from the United States on charges of corruption. She denied any wrongdoing.

About 100,000 Hungarians rallied on Oct 28 to protest against a planned tax on Internet data traffic and the broader course of Orban's government they saw as undermining democracy and relations with European Union peers.

The crowd on Sunday marched through central Budapest and held up signs depicting the prime minister that read: "You stink to high heavens!", a Titanic cutout emblazoned with his Fidesz party's name and one with a pun on the tax chief: "Vida Loca!"

The protesters, now as before, said they were marching for more than the specific issues the organizers originally called them out to oppose. They oppose the entire government and want it gone, they said.

"Enough is enough, said Istvan Kramer. 45. "They are absolutely unscrupulous while we are oppressed and told to shut up."

"We don't want to pay taxes in a corrupt country," said Pirosha Hahn, 65. "What hurts me most is that my kids need to leave the country to find a job that pays enough to raise a family on."

© Reuters. A woman carries a placard with the likeness of Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban as thousands of Hungarians protest against perceived corruption at the country's tax authority and lack of wider democratic freedoms, in Budapest

"The corruption that works in this country is the worst because it all begins with the higher-ups, the government," said 30 year-old Dia Szenasi, who arrived with a banner reading: "All corrupted here".

(Reporting by Krisztina Fenyo and Marton Dunai; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.