BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's populist prime minister Saturday vowed to rid his country of those he claims work for the interests of foreign powers, saying in a conspiracy theory-laden speech that his right-wing government will eliminate a global “shadow army” that serves the European Union and a “liberal American empire.”
Meanwhile, tens of thousands gathered in central Budapest in a show of strength against the long-serving prime minister, and in support of a new political force that aims to bring an end to Orbán's rule and his economic system in elections next year.
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People gather at the Hungarian National Museum during the official state ceremony to mark Hungary’s 1848 revolution against Habsburg rule in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)
Participants attend the celebration organised by the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party to commemorate Hungary’s 1848 revolution against Habsburg rule in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)
Chairman of the opposition Tisza party Peter Magyar delivers his speech during the celebrations to commemorate Hungary’s 1848 revolution against Habsburg rule in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)
Participants attend the celebration organised by the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party to commemorate Hungary’s 1848 revolution against Habsburg rule in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)
Mounted hussars ride during celebrations marking the 177th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1848 revolution and war of independence against Habsburg rule in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
The dueling demonstrations, which coincided with a national holiday commemorating Hungary’s 1848 revolution against the Habsburg Empire, came as the Central European country struggles with an inflation and cost of living crisis that have helped fuel growing dissatisfaction with Orbán and his autocratic style of governance.
That dissatisfaction has coalesced around Péter Magyar and his upstart Tisza party, which polls show are neck and neck or even several points ahead of Orbán's Fidesz party with around a year to go before elections.
Magyar's supporters stood in the rain Saturday as the opposition leader pledged to bring an end to what he views as an entrenched system of corruption, and called on Hungarians to form a broad coalition against Orbán's government.
“They look down on and exploit the Hungarian people, stun and divide them, and turn them against each other. In the meantime, they laugh arrogantly in our faces,” Magyar said.
Earlier in the day, Orbán told a group of several thousand select supporters that his government in the coming weeks will uproot media outlets and other organizations that have received funding from abroad, and compared such groups to insects.
“After today’s festive gathering comes the Easter cleaning. The bugs have overwintered," Orbán said. “We will dismantle the financial machine that has used corrupt dollars to buy politicians, judges, journalists, pseudo-NGOs and political activists. We will eliminate the entire shadow army.”
Orbán, in power since 2010, has used the March 15 celebration in recent years as a podium from which to launch increasingly hostile harangues against the EU, to which Hungary has belonged since 2004. He has often compared the bloc to the Soviet Union, which occupied and repressed Hungary for nearly five decades in the 20th century, and pledged to “occupy” the halls of power in Europe.
Now, after the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Hungarian leader has accelerated his longstanding efforts to crack down on critics such as media outlets, civil rights and anti-corruption groups, which he says have undermined Hungary's sovereignty by receiving financial assistance from international donors.
Orbán, a Trump ally, has applauded the U.S. administration’s actions to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, claiming, with no evidence, that it was used to fund liberal causes in Hungary aimed at toppling his government.
He has promised a reckoning for groups that have benefited from funding by USAID, saying they would be eliminated in Hungary and face “legal consequences.”
This week, Orbán's Fidesz party proposed amendments to Hungary's constitution that would allow for Hungarian dual citizens to have their citizenship suspended and be deported from the country if they are deemed to threaten Hungary’s sovereignty or national security.
Another amendment appeared to target the LGBTQ+ community. Orbán's party has said the annual Budapest Pride event would be banned in public starting this year.
On Saturday, Orbán, a firm opponent of immigration, echoed the conspiratorial “great replacement theory,” a baseless, racist hypothesis which suggests there is a global plot to diminish the influence of white people.
"The battle today is actually being fought for the soul of the Western world," Orbán said. “The empire wants to mix and then replace the indigenous people of Europe with invading masses arriving from foreign civilizations.”
In another baseless assertion, he also claimed “the empire” that has provided economic and military assistance to Ukraine as it fights off Russia's invasion in fact seeks to “colonize” the embattled country.
“The instrument of colonization is war. The rulers of Europe decided that Ukraine should continue the war, whatever it costs,” he said.
Orbán repeated his call for the EU to abandon the process of eventually bringing Ukraine into the bloc, and said he would issue a poll for Hungarians to decide whether they think Kyiv should gain EU membership.
Magyar, a former Fidesz insider who split with Orbán, has in the last year built an opposition movement that aims to defeat the Hungarian leader in national elections scheduled for next year. He has focused on Hungary's cost-of-living crisis and what he says is deep-seated corruption among ruling party elites.
People gather at the Hungarian National Museum during the official state ceremony to mark Hungary’s 1848 revolution against Habsburg rule in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)
Participants attend the celebration organised by the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party to commemorate Hungary’s 1848 revolution against Habsburg rule in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)
Chairman of the opposition Tisza party Peter Magyar delivers his speech during the celebrations to commemorate Hungary’s 1848 revolution against Habsburg rule in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)
Participants attend the celebration organised by the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party to commemorate Hungary’s 1848 revolution against Habsburg rule in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)
Mounted hussars ride during celebrations marking the 177th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1848 revolution and war of independence against Habsburg rule in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
PIEDMONT, Mo. (AP) — Violent tornadoes and high winds decimated homes, wiped out schools and toppled semitractor-trailers as a monster storm that killed at least 32 people ripped its way across the central and southern U.S.
Dakota Henderson said he and others rescuing trapped neighbors found five bodies scattered in the debris Friday night outside what remained of his aunt’s house in hard-hit Wayne County, Missouri. Scattered twisters killed at least a dozen people in the state, authorities said.
“It was a very rough deal last night,” Henderson said Saturday not far from the splintered home from which he said they rescued his aunt through a window of the only room left standing. “It’s really disturbing for what happened to the people, the casualties last night."
Coroner Jim Akers of nearby Butler County described the “unrecognizable home” where one man was killed as “just a debris field.”
“The floor was upside down," he said. "We were walking on walls.”
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced six people died in three counties and three more people were missing late Saturday as storms moved further east into Alabama, where damaged homes and impassable roads were reported.
Officials confirmed three deaths in Arkansas, where Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp did the same in anticipation of the storm's shift eastward.
Dust storms spurred by the system's early high winds claimed almost a dozen lives on Friday. Eight people died in a Kansas highway pileup involving at least 50 vehicles, according to the state highway patrol. Authorities said three people also were killed in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo, in the Texas Panhandle.
The extreme weather conditions were forecast to impact an area that is home to more than 100 million people, with winds threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and fanning the wildfire risk in warmer, drier places to the south.
Evacuations were ordered in some Oklahoma communities as more than 130 fires were reported across the state and nearly 300 homes were damaged or destroyed. Gov. Kevin Stitt said at a Saturday news conference that some 266 square miles (689 square kilometers) had burned, sharing that he lost a home of his own on a ranch northeast of Oklahoma City.
To the north, the National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of far western Minnesota and far eastern South Dakota starting early Saturday. Snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimeters) were expected, with up to a foot (30 centimeters) possible. Winds were expected to cause whiteout conditions.
Still, experts said it's not unusual to see such weather extremes in March.
Significant tornadoes continued late Saturday, with the region at highest risk stretching from eastern Louisiana and Mississippi through Alabama, western Georgia and the Florida panhandle, the Storm Prediction Center said.
Bailey Dillon, 24, and her fiance, Caleb Barnes, watched from their front porch in Tylertown, Mississippi, as a massive twister struck an area about half a mile (0.8 kilometer) away near Paradise Ranch RV Park.
They drove over afterward to see if anyone needed help and recorded video of snapped trees, leveled buildings and overturned vehicles.
“The amount of damage was catastrophic,” Dillon said. “It was a large amount of cabins, RVs, campers that were just flipped over. Everything was destroyed.”
Paradise Ranch said via Facebook that all staff and guests were safe and accounted for, but Dillon said the damage extended beyond the RV park itself.
“Homes and everything were destroyed all around it,” she said. “Schools and buildings are just completely gone.”
Some images from the extreme weather went viral online.
Tad Peters and his father, Richard Peters, had pulled over to fuel up their pickup truck in Rolla, Missouri, on Friday night when they heard tornado sirens and saw other motorists fleeing the interstate to park.
“Whoa, is this coming? Oh, it’s here. It’s here,” Tad Peters can be heard saying on a video. “Look at all that debris. Ohhh. My God, we are in a torn ...”
His father then rolled up the window.
The two were headed to Indiana for a weightlifting competition but decided to return home to Norman, Oklahoma, about six hours away, where they then encountered wildfire.
Walker reported from New York and Reynolds reported from Louisville, Kentucky. Bruce Shipkowski in Toms River, New Jersey, Jeff Roberson in Wayne County, Missouri, Gene Johnson in Seattle and Janie Har in San Francisco contributed.
A home is destroyed after a severe storm, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Wayne County, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Matt Wolff, left, works underneath his carport with the help of his father-in-law Dempsey Watson and friend Tyler Umbright, right, as they work to stabilize after a severe storm in Bridgeton, Mo., Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
In this photo provided by Missouri State Highway Patrol, a home is damaged after a severe storm passed the area near Ozark County, Mo., early Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Missouri State Highway Patrol via AP)
This image provided by shows aerials over the damage caused by the wildfires in Logan County, Okla. (KOCO via AP)
Missy, who declined to give her last name, searches for photographs in a debris field behind a relative's home after a severe storm in Bridgeton, Mo., Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
Marcus Cole embraces his daughters while standing in front of his destroyed home after a severe storm in Bridgeton, Mo., Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
Debris covers the road during a severe storm passed the area north of Seymour, Mo., in Webster County late Friday, March 14, 2025. (Trooper Austin James/Missouri State Highway Patrol via AP)
A wildfire spreads through trees Friday, March 14, 2025, south of Langston, Okla. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)
A wildfire burns a home down on Friday, March 14, 2025, south of Langston, Okla. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)
Mark Nelson, of Wis., waits with his tractor-trailer after it overturned during high winds and a possible tornado on Interstate 44 westbound at Villa Ridge, Mo., Friday, March 14, 2025. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
A vehicle sits in front of a damaged home and debris from a severe storm Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Wayne County, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Debris from a severe storm is scattered outside a damaged home Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Wayne County, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
This image provided by shows aerials over the damage caused by the wildfires in Logan County, Okla. (KOCO via AP)
This image provided by shows aerials over the damage caused by the wildfires in Logan County, Okla. (KOCO via AP)
People work through the debris of the Cave City Auto Parts store on Saturday, March 15, 2025 after a severe weather storm Friday night in Cave City, Ark. (Staci Vandagriff/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP)
Destruction from a severe storm is seen Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Wayne County, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Destruction from a severe storm is seen Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Wayne County, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Tim Scott, right, gets a hug from friend Jorden Harris outside Scott's home he was inside when it was destroyed during a severe storm the evening before Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Wayne County, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Destruction from a severe storm is seen Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Wayne County, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
