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Hungarian President Urges End to 'Moral Crisis'
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?r=279&ctl=14034E1:A6F02AD83191E16009031AD706A4D26C9574F7DCC14957C0 Laszlo Solyom's
comments came as thousands of angry protesters attempted to storm
national television station, demanding prime minister's resignation
Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom has appealed to the country's prime
minister to apologize for creating what he calls a "moral crisis" in
Hungary. The president's comments came as thousands of angry
protesters attempted to storm the national television station,
demanding the prime minister's resignation.







Protestors throw stones and other objects at the main entrance of the
building of the state-run Hungarian Television in Budapest, Hungary,
late Monday, Sept. 18, 2006The Hungarian television station was the
scene as scores of protesters smashed windows and hurled bottles and
cobblestones at riot police. Flagstones were used to attack the
television building.

Security forces fired tear gas to keep the demonstrators out of the
facility. Part of the building and nearby cars were set on fire.

The anti-government demonstrations were sparked by a leaked tape,
aired on Hungarian radio, in which Prime Minister Gyurcsany can be
heard as telling a closed party meeting that his Socialist-led
government had lied to voters to win re-election in April.

Monday's protest was Hungary's worst clash between police and
demonstrators since the fall of Communism, in 1989. Some demonstrators
shouted slogans from Hungary's crushed revolution against Soviet
domination, in October 1956. Earlier, an estimated 10,000 people
gathered in front of the parliament building. And, there were protests
in several other towns across the country.

Before the election, the government insisted Hungary's economy was not
as bad as it seemed and that a budget deficit in 2006 would be around
4.7 percent. But, after he was re-elected, Mr. Gyurcsany admitted that
- even with dramatic spending cuts and more taxes - the gap would rise
to more than 10 percent of GDP. 

That is the highest budget deficit within the European Union and has
raised doubts about Hungary's prospects to adopt the Euro currency in
the foreseeable future. As unrest spread, Monday, Hungarian state-run
television aired a speech of President Laszlo Solyom in which he urged
the prime minister to apologize.

He says Prime Minister Gyurcsany's admissions caused a moral crisis in
Hungary. He called the prime minister "personally responsible" for the
situation. The president said Mr. Gyurcsany should apologize for what
he calls "toying with democracy" and "knowingly" jeopardizing people's
faith in democracy.

Although the Socialist Party has said it still supports the prime
minister, the political row could not have come at a worse time, for
the government. There are municipal elections on October 1 and the
government hopes for public support to tackle the budget deficit with
unprecedented social and economic reforms.