Thousands of Hungarians took to the streets of Budapest on Thursday, October 23, to rally in support of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, as the country braces for what could be the most competitive parliamentary elections in his 15-year tenure. The event, organized as a “peace march,” coincided with Hungary’s national holiday commemorating the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising, which was brutally suppressed by the Red Army. Participants voiced their backing for Orbán’s stance that Hungary risks being drawn into Russia’s war in Ukraine, with banners declaring, “We don’t want to die for Ukraine.” The march, which began at the Margaret Bridge with a backdrop of Hungary’s neo-Gothic parliament, saw attendees waving flags representing towns and villages across the nation.