Some 2,000 protesters gathered in downtown Budapest to counter a demonstration by extreme right-wing groups.
Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder joined the anti-fascist protest on April 11.
Schroeder, in Hungary to speak at a conference, told the protesters, “We are many, but we need more people to defend against the extreme right.”
The extremists were far outnumbered by the counterprotesters.
The counterprotest was responding to the announcement of a demonstration by extreme right groups who planned to gather at a ticket office in Budapest, where a staff member reportedly had refused to sell a ticket to a concert by an extreme right-wing group. The shop where she worked was firebombed and its windows were smashed.
Jewish and Roma groups have been concerned about recent developments among extreme right groups.
Notably in August, the Magyar Garda, a wing of the extreme-right party Jobbik, was formed. The Magyar Garda was involved in the demonstration that prompted the counterprotest.
Jobbik members wear black uniforms similar to those worn by Hungarian fascists in the 1940s.
