Hungarian students called off a long-planned demonstration for tomorrow over fears of violence, but police said they still expected anti-government protests and street battles later tonight.
Hungary's capital, Budapest, has been hit by the worst disturbances since a 1956 uprising against Soviet occupiers after a tape was leaked on Sunday in which Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany admitted he lied to win re-election.
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| Hungarian riot police officers face protesters outside the parliament in Budapest. |
More than 200 people have been injured and 137 arrested in the clashes that police said involved hard-core soccer hooligans who had hijacked peaceful anti-government protests.
Gergely Ekler, chairman of student body HOOK, said students had cancelled long-standing plans to protest against university fees on Thursday. "It is not certain whether the demonstration could be held under peaceful circumstances," he said.
But police nonetheless feared fresh trouble ahead. Around 100 peaceful protesters gathered outside parliament at midday - some having camped out for days in front of the huge gothic building - said while they did not endorse the violence, they too expected it to continue.
"There are people of different convictions here. Most demonstrators do not agree with ideas such as extreme nationalism, but there is agreement on one thing - Ferenc Gyurcsany must go," said Peter Foldvary, a 26-year-old student from the countryside who planned to camp here for a week.
Police said a hard core of 1,000-2,000 rioters had attached themselves to peaceful protesters, and said they were on alert for fresh violence.
"An overwhelming majority of the people there (rioting) are young and a large portion of them are known football hooligans," Hungary's Deputy Chief of Police Arpad Szabadfi said.
Mr Gyurcsany, who was caught on tape telling his Socialist party that they "did nothing for four years" and lied to win re-election, has rejected calls to step down.
Despite seeing the government's popularity plunge to 25 per cent from around 40 per cent at the election, he has vowed to press ahead with tough and unpopular budget reforms.
The turmoil has slightly weakened the forint currency and equity markets were also softer on Wednesday.
Mr Gyurcsany wants his party to abandon the spendthrift ways which caused Hungary's budget deficit to surge to 10.1 per cent of gross domestic product this year.