Protests hit Hungary 1956 events

Police cleared protesters from outside parliament Ceremonies have begun in Hungary to mark the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising against Soviet rule, but only after police broke up angry protests. Outside parliament, foreign dignitaries joined the prime minister and president to lay flowers as the national anthem was played and the flag raised. Just hours earlier, police cleared hundreds of protesters from the square. The events are taking place amid bitter political disputes and opposition to prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany. Some veterans of the uprising refused to shake hands with the prime minister, who recently admitted that he lied to win re-election. Protesters have been present outside parliament for weeks, but were forced back by police in the early hours of Monday to make way for the official ceremonies. President Laszlo Solyom has appealed for national unity. He said the entire nation shared the demand for Hungarian independence during the uprising, which was suppressed in a bloody intervention by Soviet forces. Boycott Monday's events include the unveiling in Budapest's Heroes Square of a huge monument to those who died in the events of 1956. Hungarians explore a tank display as part of the anniversary   There was also to be a ceremony of remembrance at the statue of Imre Nagy, who was the reformist prime minister at the time. Inside parliament the Budapest 1956 Freedom Declaration will be signed. The national flag being flown over many of the ceremonies is notable for having a hole in the centre - echoing the gesture of protesters at the time, who cut the Soviet insignia from the middle of the Hungarian banner. However, the main opposition Fidesz party has said it will boycott official anniversary events at which Prime Minister Gyurcsany, a former communist youth leader, is speaking. It will hold its own rally close to the state radio building, the scene of bitter fighting in 1956. Mr Gyurcsany caused political uproar recently when he admitted he had lied to the public about the economy. 'First home of hope' Speaking at the Hungarian State Opera, President Solyom said some Hungarians were using the commemorations to serve their own interests. "[Politicians] are not only celebrating apart, they are celebrating different things... I however say: there is only one revolution of 1956," he said. Mr Gyurcsany and Serbian President Boris Tadic unveiled a memorial at the Serbian Embassy, where Nagy had sought asylum. "For many, this building was first the home of hope," Mr Gyurcsany said. "Unfortunately, the road of lies began here." Swift response The uprising started in Budapest on 23 October 1956, with a spontaneous demonstration by a crowd of about 23,000, the reading of a pro-democracy manifesto and the singing of banned national songs. By evening, there were 200,000 people in the centre of Budapest. The protest was crushed less than two weeks after it began A giant statue of Stalin was pulled down, leaving only the dictator's boots on the pedestal. Soviet tanks were forced to withdraw, but returned with devastating force a week later. Air and artillery assaults on Hungarian cities preceded an armoured invasion by 17 tank and infantry divisions. Imre Nagy, the reforming prime minister, made a final impassioned plea to the outside world by radio. He and hundreds of others were arrested and executed, among thousands of Hungarians who died. The BBC's Alan Little says the uprising was the moment the world accepted the post-war partition of Europe and the apparent permanence of what Winston Churchill had called "the Iron Curtain".

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