Budapest Protest Swells to 80,000 to Support Hungary’s Teachers

Veronika Gulyas
·1 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Crowds filled the embankment in front of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics on Sunday night, with Hungary’s remembrance day for 1956 revolution against Soviet rule only part of the reason.

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Students and parents gathered in the afternoon in central Budapest’s Kalvin Square to support teachers in the largest demonstration since the 2014 march in the city against a short-lived Internet tax.

Thousands of teachers walked off work across Hungary on Oct. 14 to protest low pay, defying a warning from Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government that they risked losing their jobs. Protesters also held signs criticizing Orban for his pro-Russian policies and his close ties with President Vladimir Putin.

Organizers, including students associations, estimated the size of the crowd at 80,000 people, HVG news website reported on Sunday. That’s larger than the previous demonstration on Oct. 14 after five teachers were fired in September for civil disobedience.

Hungarian teachers earn the lowest wage among the 38 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to 2021 figures, the latest available, down from second-lowest in 2020.

Orban’s government has tied raising teacher wages to accessing billions of euros in European Union funds, which are currently blocked over the alleged spread of corruption under the premier’s 12-year rule.

In a speech earlier Sunday in western Hungary’s Zalaegerszeg, more than a two-hour drive from Budapest, Orban criticized the EU’s policies for being harmful for Hungary. “Never mind those who are shooting at Hungary from the shadows, or from the high-stand in Brussels,” Orban said.

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