Can peaceful demonstrations really be successful?

The attentive observer can see elements of a new opposition strategy in the realization of demonstrations that have become increasingly regular in recent weeks. It is also a striking element – and for this Monday, Events on Chain Bridge give an example – To get a small number of demonstrators peaceful but determined to reach the castle after the parliamentary blockade, which has demonstrated against the adoption of the Basic Law, in front of the Alexander Palace. However, the police, which originally mobilized great forces, did not happen roughly what happened during previous events in the previous castle, with tear gas demonstrations related to the adoption of the status law. It can be seen that recent Hungarian demonstrations – perhaps with an export initiated against the Internet tax – have not been reinforced – for example, the prime ministerial resignation – at most only withdrawn the law.

That is why it is worthwhile to look at the power and intensity of the public-and opposition forces-in the surrounding countries, and whether the protest has become a real impact on power.

Serbia: Police after resignation

In November last year, the roof structure of the Novi Sad train station in Serbia collapsed: 14 people died and at least thirty were injured. According to analysts, the disaster has been given a strong political life from the outset, as the station has recently been renovated by a Serbian-Chinese consortium as part of the development of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line. On the streets of Belgrade and larger cities The tens of thousands of demonstrations came together in daysthe claims submitted by the protesters initially included investigating the tragedy and punishing those responsible, but later, after a more violent action of law enforcement forces, more radical claims became dangerous to power. It is not yet known whether the moods were finally calmed down with the resignation of Prime Minister Miloš Vuchevich and Mayor Milan Durics, which was of a kind of symbolic significance. Just because the Serbian political system, despite the fact that in principle we can talk about parliamentary democracy, where the prime minister should be the dominant actor, the substantive powers are concentrated around the president, Vucics.

It is worth noting that in Serbia, the protests generated by college students have had a long tradition since the overthrow of President Milosevics in 2000. The leading power of the demonstrations was the OTPOR movement. Recent protests have also been confirmed by the fact that college protesters, who have been the most persistent since November, have been supported by farmers and accompanied them with tractors, which were provided by the police by closing the roads.

Slovakia: Fico resigned and then returned

On February 21, 2018 in Slovakia, a murderer executed Ján Kuciak’s investigative journalist and his fiancé Martina Kusnírova. The party is was killed by a journalist’s discovery of economic scams revealed.

The crime caused enormous outrage in Slovak public life. In March 2018, he organized a demonstration in Bratislava in Bratislava, with tens of thousands of people attending. The demonstrations continued in the coming weeks, and the situation eventually faded to the forefront of the Minister of the Interior Robert Kalina and then Prime Minister Robert Fico. At that time, there seemed to be a government crisis, Fico’s party, Smer, was sweeping out the scene of politics, but that was not the case. In 2023, Smer won a parliamentary election by nearly 23 percent, and Robert Fico was able to sit in the prime minister’s chair for the fourth time. At the beginning of 2025, the soil was again hot under Fico’s feet, ten thousand people retreating to the streets and holding demonstrations every two weeks because of the government’s anti-EU and NATO policy.

Romania: Wage increase with strike

Recently, two waves of demonstrations swept through Romania. The current demonstrations have exploded in the presidential election. As is known, in December last year, the Romanian Constitutional Court invalidated the results of the first round of November 24 before the second round of the presidential election, claiming that the Supreme Defense Council, Călin Candidate Călin Georgescu, was assisted by illegal financing and national security risk. Subsequently, Georgescu’s supporters demanded that the National Electoral Committee (BEC) authenticate the Moscow-friendly candidate for the new round of May. The decision rejecting the registration was made despite the fact that during the committee meeting the crowd of a few hundred people part of a part has become violent, He tossed the gendarmes defending the BEC headquarters with cobblestones and firecrackers, set fire to trash cans and overturned a news carriage trolley. According to media reports, several protesters and gendarmes were injured, while the authority’s stormtroopers have displaced protesters.

He was able to move a much larger crowd and lasted three full weeks of the 2023 teaching demonstration in early summer. Due to the strike of educators demanding a significant wage increase, the period of baccalaureate examinations was postponed in Romania. Initially, a two -hour warning strike was held, and the next week more than 150,000 teachers and 70,000 educational assistants participated in the general strike. The universities also joined, the teachers teaching there held solidarity demonstrations, and student organizations also support their teachers. The government finally bowed to the demands of the strike under the leadership of the trade unions and agreed with the trade unions: in addition to immediate wage increases and other corrections, it was also possible to fight for teachers’ salary tables in the future. Under the agreement, the salary of a non -career teacher increased from the current gross 4098 lei (290 thousand forints) to 5400 lei (384 thousand HUF).

Did the police action become more restrained?

The police have become more subdued during the current movements, notably during the Chain Bridge blockade – a remarkable element of the law enforcement expert asking for the name of our newspaper, who said they would always decide on the spot. However, the difference was visible in May 2023, the Castle Student Demonstrators with tear gasin Kevlar, gas mask riot police and practitioners, between standby standards that use their physical strength only. It is a definite, proportionate force, but not extreme action – this is how the expert characterized the current mass dissemination.

However, this requires a solid psychological condition and material-moral esteem, but in many places, the departments of the countryside are involved in the missions, and this instability will make the right task vulnerable-Judit Bárdos, president of Home Affairs and Public Service.