Városliget Zrt., the company in charge of the contested Liget project aimed at building a new museum complex in the popular park, said that a “rowdy group of protesters attacked the site” and “climbed illegally” on top of a building deemed for demolition.

The protest “jeopardised the artefacts of a national collection”, Városliget said, referring to the collections of the Transport Museum, the building to be pulled down. They noted their commitment to “avoiding that anybody should be harmed during the demolition works” and argued that putting up a cordon and employing security guards had “exclusively served that purpose”.

Earlier in the day, police had detained several protesters including a municipal representative. The opposition LMP and Democratic Coalition (DK) parties voiced support for what they see an illegal development project. DK demanded an investigation into alleged violence by security guards and police “siding with the thugs” during a protest on Sunday.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.