Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a rally of thousands on Tuesday that Hungary would never take orders from Brussels, appealing to the spirit of a 1956 uprising against Soviet power.
      

Hungary, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, has drawn sharp criticism from  EU governments and rights groups over a new media law. After threats of legal action it amended the law to comply with European rules on media freedom.
      

Orban said his centre-right Fidesz government, which swept to power in elections in April 2010, protected Hungary's interests when it broke ties with the International Monetary Fund last year and when it imposed a new tax on banks.
      

Orban drew a parallel between current times and Hungary's uprising against Habsburg rule, which started on March 15, 1848.
      

"Keeping to our oath, we did not tolerate diktats from Vienna in 1848, and we did not tolerate diktats from Moscow in 1956 and 1990 either," he said in a speech.
      

"And now equally, we will not let anybody dictate to us from Brussels or anywhere," he told a cheering crowd on Hungary's national holiday.
      

The Fidesz government confounded investors last year with its unorthodox fiscal measures which included big crisis taxes and an effective nationalisation of the second, private pension pillar, which has helped plug budget holes and cut income taxes.
      

About 10,000 people demonstrated later in the day, demanding further changes to the media law and a public debate with the inclusion of media professionals and human rights bodies. They called for measures to limit interference of government in press freedom.