Protests in Budapest have now continued for over a week and there seems to be no sign of pressure easing on the Hungarian government.

Leaders of the estimated 25,000 protesters have predicted more violence on the streets unless Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcs? quits and elections are called.
What we have seen in Hungary is undoubtedly the biggest political protest in the country since the anti-Soviet uprising in 1958.

The riots and demonstrations started after the leak of a tape showing the Prime Minister admitting his government had lied about the state of the economy in order to win elections. But this is not an admission as straightforward as it might at first seem.

It is really about a general refusal by all politicians to face economic reality - especially at election time - which has become par for the course.
In many ways, much of the electorate connived in this reluctance - the evidence and the warnings about the economy from various sources (the EU for one) have been numerous - and all have been ignored.

This may be a measure of how young democracy is in the new EU states where an electorate simply latches on to the best and biggest political promise, which, within the new disciplined fiscal reality the EU represents, cannot be achieved.