OVER 500K attend pro-peace rally to support Hungarian PM Viktor Orban’s call for a ceasefire in Ukraine

06/06/2024 / By Zoey Sky

Hundreds of thousands of people participated in the largest pro-peace march in Hungary’s post-communist history on Saturday, June 1.

The rally had over 500,000 participants in a country with just 9.5 million people – or over five percent of the population. The attendees included Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who delivered a speech calling for peace in Europe, a message he has continually supported since the beginning of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine in late February 2022.

During an interview with the major Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet, Zoltan Lomnici Jr., spokesman of the Civil Union Forum (COF) and the Civil Union Public Benefit Foundation (COKA), said that while they were getting ready for “the biggest peace march ever,” they received many messages from Hungarians in the country and with the diaspora.

COF-COKA first started organizing peace marches back in 2012 in support of Orban’s government standing up to what it called “blackmail” by the European Union. (Related: Hungary’s Orban slams current EU policies, calls for new leadership.)

Lomnici, a constitutional lawyer, explained that the 2024 peace march is its 10th iteration. The peace marches draw inspiration from the civil initiatives that overthrew Hungary’s former communist regime in 1989, with the demonstrations seeing large crowds gather for political and social mobilization.

According to Lomnici, the pre-election peace rally is a great opportunity for the “courageous civilian supporters of peace” to voice their “firm commitment to peace, thus legitimizing the line taken by the civilian-national government on the issue of war and potentially contributing to the advance of the pro-peace forces that have long been the hallmark of genuine civil society in the EU.”

COF-COKA President Laszlo Csizmadia said at least half a million people participated in the last peace march in 2022, and the current peace march has almost certainly broken that record, albeit not by much.

Hungarians support a ceasefire in Ukraine, but leftist and liberal parties in Europe support the war

Several polls have revealed that Hungarians overwhelmingly support a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. But liberals and leftists in Hungary and the rest of Europe do not, and have now become the biggest promoters of continued war in Ukraine.

To date, only Orban and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico are the only leaders calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine. Fico is still in the hospital with severe wounds following an assassination attempt over his voicing his stance on Ukraine.

The peace march in Hungary was slated to be a show of force in support of peace in the country, a point backed by Lomnici. He explained that big events like the peace march are conclusive proof of the will of a people.

Orban’s government has also voiced its concern over how the conflict in Ukraine affects ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine, mostly living in the far eastern Zakarpattia Oblast, which shares a border with Hungary. The region is home to around 150,000 ethnic Hungarians, many of whom have already been drafted and lost their lives at the frontlines.

Lomnici also explained that Hungary’s sovereign pro-peace position must be respected by all decision-makers in Europe and the Western alliance systems.

At the peace march, attendees chanted “Hungary-Hungary” and waved banners saying “Give us peace, Lord.” The people at the peace rally marched from Budapest’s Chain Bridge alongside the parliament building to Margaret Island, where Orban addressed supporters.

At the peace march, Orban said that the attendees “are the biggest peace corps, the largest peacekeeping force in Europe.” He added that Europe must be prevented from rushing into war and “into its own destruction.”

Visit UkraineWitness.com for more stories related to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Watch the video below as Orban declares that Hungary won’t be blackmailed into letting migrants into the country.

This video is from the HaloRock™ channel on Brighteon.com.