Hungarian PM slams 'right-wing opposition'

HUNGARIAN Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany yesterday hit out at the main opposition conservative party for linking itself with far-right groups calling for the overthrow of his government and demonstrating in Budapest.

"We cannot have, and we cannot allow, cooperation with those who reject the democratic foundations of the third Hungarian Republic,'' Mr Gyurcsany said at a meeting of leftist city leaders in Budapest.

"This is not only the tragedy of the Hungarian right but also of Hungarian democracy,'' he said.

The Prime Minister's comments came after more than 20,000 people rallied on Saturday in the largest of a series of week-long protests demanding his resignation after he admitted lying about the state of the economy to win re-election in April.