Budapest –

Thousands of people took part in an annual WWII-linked commemoration held by far-right groups in Budapest Saturday, as anti-fascist activists gathered nearby to protest the rise of the far right around the world.

Each year, far-right groups from across Europe meet in Budapest for what they call a "Day of Honour" to mark a failed attempt by Nazi and Hungarian troops in 1945 to break out of the city during the Soviet Army's siege.

While some events have been banned, including neo-Nazi concerts — that will still take place at undisclosed locations — an annual "memorial hike" is being held.

Both the commemoration as well as the anti-fascist counter-demonstration remained peaceful, after warnings from the Hungarian authorities about possible violence, like that which occurred in 2023.

Journalists estimated 4,000 people joined the "memorial hike" from Buda Castle late on Saturday, some of them wearing far-right insignia and even Nazi uniforms.

Among them was Zsolt, who said he wanted to honor "the heroes ... the real Hungarians who defended the city" 80 years ago.

"We march in silence to physically experience the suffering of our ancestors," the 33-year-old insurance broker said, declining to give his full name.

Nearby a few hundred anti-fascist activists protested under the close watch of police, which had been patrolling the streets with drones, dogs and special operations vehicles.

One of the protesters, retiree Julia Zsolnay said that it was important to take to the streets "with the resurgence of fascism in Germany, not to mention Austria, and the whole world heading for a terrible fate."

For far-right groups, the soldiers trying to break out of besieged Budapest in 1945 were "protecting Western Europe against the threat of the Red Army," said researcher Hunyadi Bulcsu of the Political Capital think tank.

But since the attempt was carried out "in the name of Nazi Germany," it cannot be "glorified" in any way, Bulcsu said.

In 2023, the commemorations were overshadowed by violent attacks by far-left activists from abroad.

Protesters on Saturday voiced their support for the anti-fascist activists who are being prosecuted by the Hungarian courts for acts of violence committed two years ago.

One of them, an Italian teacher arrested and allegedly charged with attacking neo-Nazis in Budapest, made international headlines when she appeared in a Hungarian court in early 2024, with her feet shackled.

Ilaria Salis has since been released from house arrest due to the immunity she obtained following her election to the EU parliament. Public prosecutors had sought an 11-year jail term for her.

Another suspect, a German, was extradited to Hungary last year, a decision severely criticized by Germany's federal constitutional court this week.

The top court said the extradition order for Maja T., who identifies as non-binary, had failed to take account of potentially dangerous prison conditions in Hungary, including anti-LGBTQ+ measures adopted under Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Six people suspected of participating in the attacks in Budapest turned themselves in to German authorities last month in a bid to avoid extradition to Hungary. An Albanian activist, who is also being prosecuted, is contesting his extradition from France.

Before the rally, the Hungarian government had warned it would do everything to avoid a repeat of 2023. "We consider it unacceptable to organize a manhunt, whether on the streets of Budapest or anywhere else," Deputy Interior Minister Bence Retvari said of the commemoration.

"No ideology ... can justify the beating of randomly selected people to a bloody pulp," he added, singling out left-wing activists for past violence.

Although Hungarian right-wing extremists were also charged for attacking suspected anti-fascists two years ago, their cases were far less publicized.

Hungary's Orban, in power since 2010, has often been accused of democratic backsliding and historical revisionism. In 2017, the nationalist premier came under fire for praising wartime leader and Hitler ally Miklos Horthy as an "exceptional statesman."

Horthy, who ruled Hungary from 1920 to 1944, passed anti-Jewish laws and oversaw the deportations of several hundred thousand Hungarian Jews to Nazi death camps.

Dismissing criticism, Orban has vowed "zero tolerance" for anti-Semitism, boasting that Hungary is "the safest country in Europe for the Jewish community."