Hungary’s annual march in the heart of Budapest attracts tens of thousands of international participants, but Poles are typically one of the largest blocs. A large number of them joined the 65^th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, which saw, according to Hungarian police, up to 500,000 people attend.

Poles have made the journey to Budapest before, with this trip marked as the ‘9^th Great Journey to Hungary.’ Organised by Gazeta Polska community clubs, the Polish participants left Warsaw on Thursday. Many took part in the most important state ceremonies in Hungary during the march.

The Saturday ‘Peace March’ in Budapest made a powerful impression. According to the Hungarian police, around 500,000 people attended the event and very quickly people began to mention that it was the largest such public manifestation in the European Union.

‘Half a million people in Budapest protesting against the Court of Justice of the EU dictate,’ ‘Gazeta Polska’ Editor-in-Chief Tomasz Sakiewicz wrote on Twitter and attached a picture from the march.

Almost all the media in Central Europe, Poland and Hungary especially commented on the significant participation of Poles in the event, no matter their political viewpoints. The Hungarian Peace March was also a subject of muted ‘no comment’ interest for many Western media outlets.

At the end of the gathering, the participants listened to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s speech and were greeted by a ‘We welcome our Polish friends’ banner.

‘Good morning Hungarians, good morning Poles and good morning Italians. Today, I warmly welcome the nations of freedom in the capital. We have not seen each other for a while. We must speak about many important things but above all else, let us remember the days from 65 years ago and the afternoon from 15 years ago,’ Orban said.

In Fact, Hungary’s prime minister, arguably Europe’s most popular and charismatic national leader was arrested by the KGB in Soviet Occupied Hungary and he was imprisoned.

The reference to 15 years ago had to do with the previous Socialist government’s decision to use police violence against demonstrators involved in Hungary’s Peace March, resulting in hundreds of injuries.