BUDAPEST - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called on Hungarians to stand with the nation against external interference here on Thursday, at a rally marking the 69th anniversary of the 1956 revolution.

Addressing supporters in front of the Parliament, Orban said Hungarians had repeatedly defended their nation's independence against foreign pressure.

He told the crowd that they are "the most important political movement in Europe that has been able to protect its homeland against the liberal zeitgeist and the oppressors of Brussels."

Tens of thousands of Hungarians joined the ruling Fidesz party's traditional "Peace March" in Budapest to voice support for Orban's government and its stance of keeping Hungary out of the Ukraine conflict.

Orban said Hungary was once occupied by tanks, and now faces "financial sanctions" as tools of coercion.

Reiterating his criticism of the European Union's stance on the Ukraine crisis, the prime minister said, "We will not go to war and die for Ukraine, but live for Hungary."

Orban said, Hungary has taken its position on the side of peace. "We are now a strong, sovereign nation which has dignity, which is preserving itself and its future."

Orban urged his supporters to stay united ahead of next year's election, which polls suggest could be more competitive due to the emergence of the new Tisza Party led by Peter Magyar.

Meanwhile, the opposition Tisza Party held a separate demonstration, also drawing tens of thousands of supporters at the Heroes Square under grey clouds heavy with rain.

In his hour-long speech, Magyar called for a peaceful, humane systemic change to reunite the nation. He invoked the spirit of the revolution, declaring that the 2026 election will not be decided by foreign powers but by the Hungarian people.