Hungary said on Tuesday the comments made on Russian state TV about its 1956 revolt against Soviet communist rule were "degrading," as it summoned Moscow's ambassador to the foreign ministry.

The public broadcaster apparently described the armed rebellion as "riots," during which "thousands of former Nazis were liberated from prison."

The Russian state TV channel also insinuated that the US and Western European countries had orchestrated the uprising.

It described the revolt as the first of the "color revolutions," like Ukraine's "Orange Revolution" in 2005.

Strong words for Moscow

"In a meeting, the ministry will make it clear that we will not accept any unfavorable representation of the 1956 revolution and its heroes," said a statement carried by the state news agency MTI.

Despite history, Russia and Hungary maintain strong relations

Although the Russian word for riots, "pogrom," does not carry anti-Semitic overtones, the term has negative connotations in Hungary, where hundreds of thousands of Jews were deported and killed by the Nazis.

The opposition party "Politics Can Be Different" had urged the ministry to complain to the Russian embassy.

Hungary commemorated the revolt's 60th anniversary with a large state ceremony on Sunday.

The Hungarian population rose up against Soviet Stalinist rule on October 23, 1956. The rebellion was quickly quashed by Moscow, and the country remained in the Soviet sphere of control until 1990.

mm/gsw (AFP, AP, dpa)