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Demonstration against a plan to reform the government of Viktor Orban, which reinforces control over theaters, Budapest, Hungary, December 9, 2019. Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP

Several thousand Hungarians demonstrated Monday night December 9 to defend artistic freedom, in response to a project of reform of the government of Viktor Orban that strengthens control over the theaters.

With our correspondent in Budapest, Florence La Bruyère

" A kultur egy nemzeti alap! (" Culture is a national value! "), Chants the crowd. Budapest's central square is crowded with people. " Faced with such a law, it is impossible to be silent, " launches the actress Andrea Fullajtar. Because the Orban government reform project cuts food to independent companies. They will no longer be eligible for operating grants.

Daniel Mayer does not see how his theater troupe will survive. " We will not be able to prepare our shows, rent a room. We will not be able to work anymore. And we can not play in the independent rooms, because they will not have subsidies! "

" If they take it from us, we go to dictatorship "

" The artistic activities must defend the interest of the nation, " says the bill. Abigail, a 20-year-old student, is appalled. " The theater is almost the last space of freedom of expression we have left ! So if they take this from us, we go to the dictatorship. "

50,000 people signed a petition demanding the withdrawal of the law, but nothing seems to stop Viktor Orban. Published Monday on the website of Parliament, the text could be submitted to the vote of the deputies as of Wednesday, December 11.

Sexual harassment scandal serves as a pretext for the government

The government has justified its willingness to strengthen its control over publicly-funded theaters after a case of sexual harassment in one of Budapest's well-known institutions, the Katona József Theater.

In the wake of the affair, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party ransacked theaters that " demand money from the government while denying access to their affairs and hiding crimes for years ."

Opponents of the reform accuse the government of using the recent scandal to restrict the artistic independence of theaters, which sometimes produce works critical of the government.

►Also read: In Hungary, the Orban government reduces freedom of education