Thousands rally in Budapest in support of government

Thousands of pro-government activists took to the streets of Budapest in support of Hungary's underfire government.  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his cabinet have recently come under heavy criticism both at home and in Europe for adopting laws seen as endangering democracy.

The prime minister earlier this week agreed to amend some of the bills.

He is due to meet top EU officials on Tuesday to hammer out details of what changes Budapest is willing to make to the laws to comply with EU treaties.

Saturday's peaceful rally began in Heroes Square - the heart of the Hungarian capital. The demonstrators then marched down the main boulevard toward the parliament building. Participants carried banners in foreign languages, appealing to the European Union to respect Hungarian sovereignty.

The massive rally was an attempt by the backers of the centre-right cabinet to show that they could mobilise more supporters than the opposition, which earlier this month attracted some 70,000 people for its demonstration.

The legal dispute between Hungary and the EU is about the laws which came into effect 1 January.

The European Commission has warned that the bills on Hungary's central bank, the judiciary and data protection authority put those bodies' independence at risk.

The Hungarian government has been given a month to make changes. Failure to do so would be grounds for the commission to levy fines or take Hungary to the European Court of Justice.

The commission has also warned that negotiations on a badly-needed loan of up to  €20 billion from the EU and the International Monetary Fund will not resume until the laws are amended.