Young Hungarians are intent on writing their own future

„The Mil, as the street has nicknamed the group, stands neither for military nor for mother-in-law: it is short for »One Million for the Freedom of Press«. Their goal is to be a platform for ideas, not to be a party. Curiously, their appeal reminds me of that enjoyed by Fidesz when it started out in the late 80s. They are young, they speak their minds, and they do not concentrate power. They collected money for their demonstration on Facebook too (it's not cheap!). There's something heartening about reading a message on the internet saying: »Thank you, please don't send more money, we've got enough.«

Orbán, often portrayed as an authoritarian by western media, hailed a »revolution in the ballot box« when his party won a landslide victory in elections in April 2010. Since then, Fidesz has been rewriting the constitutional laws with unprecedented zeal, gradually eroding the support it once enjoyed among both the most and least educated sections of the population. As his party continues to pass laws that could be in effect for several political terms, it becomes increasingly clear Orbán overestimated his voters' enthusiasm for radical change. In recent polls, his party only has a fifth of the vote.

A large number of young Hungarians are afraid that the new rules and regulations will silence their voices. The Mil has distributed 50,000 press passes among the demonstrators, anointing all of them as journalists, urging them to write, to inquire and to pass on information to keep freedom of speech alive. They all have their own views and will not let the government monopolise national identity or the memory of 1956. They do not want the old farts from the left and right who compromised themselves in recent power struggles.

These people, raised in a democracy and brought up with the internet, know well that they will have to foot the bill for their parents' failure to reinvent the country after the cold war.”