Two groups opposed to a Soviet memorial in downtown Budapest on Friday claimed to have collected the necessary 200,000 signatures to launch a national referendum on the issue, according to dpa. The World Federation of Hungarians, backed by a second group named Deport '56, has spent the last few months collecting signatures against the monument. The monument was erected to commemorate the Soviet soldiers that died liberating Hungary from Nazi Germany, but many feel the fact that Moscow stayed in control of Hungary until 1989 makes a mockery of the liberation claims. According to the two leaders of the organizations, Miklos Patrubany and Szabolcs Szerdahelyi, the problem is not with the memorial itself, but its location. The unpopular obelisk, which stands on Freedom Square near Parliament, has been cordoned off for years to prevent vandalism, but last year it suffered serious damage during anti-government riots. Rioters, angry at Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's admission he had lied to the nation, damaged the monument as they attempted to break into the headquarters of Hungarian Television, which is located on the same square. The Hungarian Foreign Ministry says the monument is protected by an international agreement, which also compels Moscow to look after monuments to Hungarian war dead. The anti-Russian sentiment amongst many Hungarians is in direct contradiction to current government policy, which sees the warmest relation between the two nations since Hungary moved over to democracy. Hungary and Russia are cooperating on energy issues, angering the EU, which feels Hungary is undermining efforts to escape dependence on Russian gas. Many on the right feel the ruling Socialist party is simply the communist party in new capitalist clothing, and the new detente is deepening this belief. The main right-wing opposition party Fidesz has also blasted the closer links. Several Fidesz MPs signed the petition and party leader Viktor Orban has sparred with the Russian ambassador to Hungary and made inflammatory comments. "We did not show the door ... to the Russians, to the Soviet Union, to communism only for them to climb back in the window," Orban said in a recent speech. "Oil may come from the east, but freedom always comes from the west."
