The Hungarian authorities appealed to the public on Friday for help in finding two migrants whom the government accused of terrorism for taking part in protests this week against the closing of the border with Serbia which degenerated into bloody clashes.

Although the violence in the street battle between the police and protesters seemed similar to confrontations at demonstrations around the world, Tamas Menczer, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, described the hurling of rocks and sticks by frustrated migrants as a serious crime.

“A person who attacks the border is committing an act of terrorism,” Mr. Menczer said, as images of the two suspects were broadcast on state television.

Noting that one of the two men was photographed addressing the crowd of protesters through a red megaphone, Mr. Menczer added, “A person who directs the attack through a megaphone is also committing an act terrorism.”

The photographs and video stills circulated by the authorities showed the two men at the front of a large crowd of migrants who were blocked by the police from crossing into Hungary at Horgos, near the town of Roszke, on Wednesday.

One of the men, bearded and wearing a black and white track suit top, was photographed pointing his finger at the police. Mr. Menczer suggested that he was responsible for directing “an organized attack.”

The confrontation, recorded from several angles by local and international journalists, resulted in a tense standoff between the police and protesters after a group of migrants had forced open a large gate across the road between Serbia and Hungary.

However, it appears that the man in the black and white jacket had tried to act as a peacemaker before the police used tear gas and their batons to disperse the protesters.

The man can be heard in video recorded on the scene by the Hungarian news site Index.hu trying to reason with the officers as the crowd behind him chanted “Open! Open!”

Hungarian News Site Video of Clashes

“Nobody will make any problem to your country,” he told the officers in English. “Nobody will make any problem for any policeman. You must understand this: We come here for peace, just to pass.”

As he finished his plea, the man pointed beyond the officers, apparently indicating that the migrants wished only to pass through Hungary to another European Union country.

The same video shows that after the man ended his attempt to negotiate with the officers and stepped back from the temporary barrier across the road, objects were hurled at the police by other migrants, who also kicked the barrier, before the police sprayed gas and then water. The clashes then intensified with a barrage of rocks hurled at the officers.

The man was also photographed by Russia Today, the Kremlin-owned broadcaster, but he was not engaging in any violence, simply shaking his finger at the officers and saying “No, no,” before the clashes began.

Footage recorded at another stage of the standoff, broadcast Wednesday evening by Spain’s TVE, showed the same man standing between the officers and a group of women and children, telling reporters, “We want only peace.”

Spanish Television Coverage of Clashes at Hungarian Border

Hungría lanza gases lacrimógenos contra refugiados que intentan pasar la frontera

The police officers charged into the crowd, which included young children, a short time later to push the migrants back from the border. At that point, several migrants, including some parents and children, were injured.

Kurdish News Channel’s Video of Injured Migrants

Curiously, the TVE video report, and still photographs of the police charge distributed by wire services, also showed that the other man the authorities said they were looking for — carrying the red megaphone and wearing black and white striped shorts — was tackled by officers and detained on the spot.

Mr. Menczer did not immediately reply to a request for comment, so it remained unclear if the man the authorities asked the public to help them find on Friday had been in their custody for two days and they were unaware of it, or if he was released after being detained on Wednesday.