State of Siege

Results of the last bombing in Budapest

On Thursday, July 2, 1998, Budapest became a city under siege. Police set up road blocks at all major points leaving the city; even along the bridges which span the Danube and connect Buda and Pest, cars were stopped and checked. Meanwhile, a slight state of panic was felt by most residents. Suddenly, it didn't feel very safe to be in Budapest at any time of day - especially the downtown area.

Earlier in the day, a powerful car bomb exploded, killing four and injuring about twenty. The fact that a bomb went off wasn't much of a surprise. Sadly, for the past couple of years bombings have become a regular occurrence, almost a routine part of daily Hungarian life. What made this latest explosion different was the magnitude of the attack.

Until now, most bombings in Hungary caused few injuries - and even fewer deaths. Moreover, they usually didn't take place in crowded places during the daytime. Indeed, many of them were planted under cars, intended more as a warning or to expressively cause damage. This latest attack, however, happened in the very heart of Budapest near the fashionable promenade of Vaci utca. Included among those injured by the blast were several foreign tourists.

What the latest bombing has driven home to all is the complete impotence of the police in Hungary. Although they have been put on high alert and the chief of the National Police demanded from his officers that those responsible for this latest attack to be behind bars within twenty four hours, most realise that these gestures contain a lot of bark and little bite.

Under-equipped and under-financed, the police are fighting an uphill battle. Almost none of the previous bombings to date have been solved. Moreover, the practice of offering cash incentives to help solve major crimes have had little impact. Nevertheless, for this latest bombing, a reward of five million forints (about 40,000 DEM, or five year's salary of an average Hungarian) has been offered.

Financial and infrastructure concerns aside, the security problem within Hungary has a lot to do with police attitudes. Generally, there appears to be two different motives for the violence on Budapest streets: one is in a manner of settling of accounts (as with this latest bombing), and the other seems to be politically motivated (in the past half year alone there were four bombings; three of them targeted prominent opposition leaders, the fourth the office building of the party that won the election). As far as the police are concerned, those responsible for these bombings are either mafia thugs or deranged people, respectively.

Following such conclusions, the long arm of the arm ends up coming down hard on those who fall within this narrow perspective, namely foreigners and the socially marginalized. In turn, many of these people end up being subjected to unjustified checks and surveillance. The public, meanwhile, tacitly support such police behaviour. They feel that there is a collapse in law and order, and that there is now a need to weed out undesirable elements. Thus, anti-foreigner sentiment is high, especially against those from the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as well as visible foreigners.

Yet many of those responsible for the violence in Hungary are able to avoid detection. Being professionals, they make sure they don't draw attention to themselves, and in many cases appear as respectable members of society. Thus, unless both the public and the police take a more constructive approach - which includes, among other things, transcending stereotypes and involves a deeper understanding into the nature of crime - the state of siege will continue.