‘Wilders, Le Pen cooperation with Hungarian Jobbik nazis’


This video says about itself:

Hungary’s Jobbik party hold anti-Semitic rally

A rally by Hungary’s far-right Jobbik party, the third largest in the country’s parliament, has been held in Budapest despite government efforts to ban it because of its anti-Semitic nature.

Dutch NOS TV reports today that Geert Wilders, leader of the xenophobic PVV party, says that he has found enough members of the European parliament wiling to coöperate with him to found an official extreme right caucus.

At the moment, the PVV cooperates in the European parliament with Marine Le Pen‘s neo-fascist National Front, the Vlaams Belang from Belgium, the Lega Nord from Italy, and the Austrian neo-nazi FPÖ (the party of the late Jörg Haider). That is MEPs from five countries. However, to form an official European parliament caucus, getting much more European Union money, one needs MEPs from at least seven countries.

Wilders says that the united far right has now reached that threshold of seven countries. He says there will be details on Tuesday at a press conference.

It is not yet officially known from which two countries Wilders’ and Le Pen‘s new allies are. NOS TV suggests: an ex-member of the UKIP party in Britain, and a member of the neo-nazi Jobbik party in Hungary.

NOS TV writes (translated):

Last year, Wilders and Le Pen already tried to form a group in the European parliament. Then, they failed to get the required number of parties together. They had their hopes set on UKIP among others, but that party refuses to coöperate with the National Front, which is anti-Semitic according to UKIP. The British then formed their own eurocritical group in the European Parliament.

According to the NOS report, the new British addition to the Le Pen-Wilders group is said to be an ex-UKIP member, so UKIP itself would then still not cooperate with the National Front officially.

The NOS does not say, contrary to what it says about ex-UKIP, that the Jobbik member joining the Le Pen-Wilders group is ex-Jobbik. That would mean cooperation with the stridently anti-Semitic, violently anti-Roma, openly pro-Hitler Jobbik for Wilders. Wilders, who used to say when he founded his PVV party that he did not want to have anything to do with the neo-fascists of the Vlaams Belang and the French National Front; that he supposedly merely was critical of extreme Muslims blah blah blah blah.

NOS TV update, 16 June 2015 says that the new extreme right group in the European parliament will get about 17 million euros extra money now. The new MEPs in that group are said to be one MEP from Britain and two from the Polish far right, which claims that Hitler, Mussolini, and rape are not that bad.

From British daily The Guardian today:

A former Ukip MEP has defected from Nigel Farage’s European parliamentary group to join a new far-right alliance led by the French Front National (FN) Marine Le Pen.

Janice Atkinson, who represents the south-east of England, praised the “great courage and leadership” of Le Pen as she became vice-president of the new group, Europe of Nations and Freedom, enabling it to qualify for millions of euros in public funding.

Atkinson was expelled from Ukip before the election over allegations that a member of her staff tried to inflate an expenses bill, less than a year after she was elected for the party. She had previously got into hot water for referring to a Thai Ukip supporter as a “ting-tong from somewhere”, forcing Farage to apologise and make a personal visit to the constituent.

However, Atkinson was still allowed to remain a member of Farage’s Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group, until the news broke on Tuesday that she was switching to Le Pen’s new alliance.

This video from Hungary says about itself:

Hungary: Roma protest against Jobbik abuse

Several hundred Roma have taken to the streets in eastern Hungary protesting against verbal attacks on the community by the country’s far-right political party Jobbik. The ongoing targeting of the Roma highlights increasing tensions in the recession-hit country where far-right Jobbik took over 16% of the vote in the last elections, with this popularity largely based on tapping into widespread public resentment of Hungary’s 700,000 Roma.

Jobbik lawmakers also regularly blame Jews for the country’s economic woes. …

The rising popularity of far-right politicians is a cause of rising anxiety for Hungary’s 100,000 Jews, the largest Jewish community in central Europe with a leading Hungarian Rabbi describing the situation as “unprecedented” and saying that “anti-Semitic public speech has escalated to a point which cannot be ignored by a single decent person”.

This week on Capitol Hill, the Hungarian American Institute is lobbying with a delegation that includes Hungarian Member of Parliament Gabor Seaudt, a member of Hungary’s far-right extremist party Jobbik. Jobbik espouses antisemitic rhetoric and is now Hungary’s second-largest political party. Staudt was formerly a member of Magyar Garda, a Jobbik-connected nationalist paramilitary organization that was banned in 2009. Among those reportedly planning to meet with the delegation is Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Chair of the House Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats. Human Rights First’s report, “We’re not Nazis, but…The Rise of Hate Parties in Hungary and Greece and Why America Should Care,” details the growing threat to human rights posed by the rise of Jobbik. It also documents the Hungarian government’s actions over the past four years that have violated religious freedoms, curtailed judicial independence and media freedom, and failed to combat a rising tide of violent antisemitism. These actions have led to a series of rebukes by the European Union, the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and from Hungary’s own Supreme Court: here.

Hungarian government cooperates with Jobbik nazis


This AFP news agency video says about itself:

Hungarian WWII leader makes memorial comeback

17 July 2012

Efforts to rehabilitate Miklos Horthy, Hungary’s leader during World War II and an ally of Adolf Hitler, have been growing lately, with statues erected in his honour and parks renamed after him. Encouraged by the far-right Jobbik but also by the ruling right-wing party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, this has been denounced by critics as a sign of the country’s growing anti-Semitism and racism.

By Markus Salzmann:

Hungarian government works closely with fascist Jobbik party

28 March 2015

According to the most recent polls by the Ipsos Social Research Institute, the neo-fascist party Jobbik trails the ruling Fidesz party in Hungary by just 3 percentage points. Since the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban lost the absolute majority in February, it has worked closely with the far right.

At the moment, 18 percent of all eligible voters would vote for Jobbik. The party is the most popular among voters under 30. Twenty-one percent of those questioned would vote for Fidesz, while 37 percent said that they did not intend to vote at all.

Among voters who have decided on a party, 28 percent spoke in favour of Jobbik, the highest number that the party has ever recorded. At thirty-seven percent, support for Fidesz dropped below 40 percent for the first time since the last election.

The social democratic parties remain far behind. Support for the Socialist Party (MSZP) is at 12 percent, the Democratic Party (DP) of former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany at 4 percent, and the Greens at 3 percent of eligible voters. The next regular parliamentary election will take place in 2018.

The official “left” parties’ right-wing policies are directly responsible for the strengthening of right-wing extremism. They have nothing to offer in opposition to the policies of Orban, which are the object of growing hostility in broad layers of the population. Since 2010, the government has carried out deep cuts in social programmes and attacks on fundamental democratic rights.

At the end of last year, tens of thousands demonstrated against government efforts to control Internet usage. Social misery—compounded by the 2015 budget—has reached dramatic proportions. The government is planning to phase out all subsidies financed by the state budget over the next three years.

The first part of the budget law went into effect on March 1. It cuts income support to people of working age in half and only grants it at all under special circumstances. For families without any income, the payment is restricted to a monthly maximum of €150. People in whose families someone else is receiving unemployment benefits will receive at most €75. In addition, the payments are now left to the discretion of the authorities to a much greater degree.

The only European country in which poverty has increased more than Hungary in the past year is Greece. The consequences of government policies are reflected most clearly in child poverty statistics.

More than 730,000 (43 percent) of Hungary’s 1.7 million minors are poor. According to UNICEF, Hungary has seen the largest increase in child poverty in Europe. Fully 170,000 children in Hungary live without an indoor toilet, and more than 600,000 live in apartments and houses with mildew, leading to a high rate of respiratory ailments. Asthma rates among children are correspondingly high. Approximately 200,000 children live in housing with damp rooms and leaky roofs, and without proper light.

Unsurprisingly, under these circumstances, Orban’s popularity is decreasing. Since the election 10 months ago, Fidesz has lost the support of 50 percent of its constituency. It has lost every election at a municipal level. A Jobbik candidate won the election for mayor of Ózd with a two-thirds majority.

On February 22, the government also lost its direct mandate in the Veszprém electoral district. An independent candidate won, and Fidesz lost its two-thirds majority in parliament.

Since passage of many laws require a two-thirds majority, Orban has sought to base himself on the extreme right. This is not taking place in the open, because neither party wants to enter an official coalition. However, with the exception of changes to the constitution, for which two thirds of all representatives in parliament have to vote in favour, the absence of one oppositional member of parliament is enough to ensure that Fidesz has a two-thirds majority among the representatives who are present.

One week after the last federal election, Fidesz has already won one vote in parliament thanks to the absence of a Jobbik representative from the parliamentary session. This shows Orban can rely on the neo-fascists. Jobbik has already had several opportunities since 2010 to vote with Fidesz. For example, it supported the appointment of Fidesz adherents to the constitutional court.

The two-thirds majority is extremely important for the authoritarian reshaping of legislation and the constitution. In 2014 alone, a two-thirds majority was necessary for 200 votes that took place in parliament.

The unofficial integration of the extreme right into the Hungarian government is a danger that should not be underestimated. Jobbik leads the Hungarian Guard, which is officially forbidden but remains publicly active nevertheless. The paramilitary organisation spreads fear and terror in the Roma minority. It marches through Roma settlements and terrorises families. Its members and sympathisers are responsible for several murders, including the killing of a small child.

Amid growing opposition to its antisocial and authoritarian policies, the government views the integration of Jobbik into the government as an opportunity to mobilise the dregs of society for its own ends.

Jobbik supports the radical austerity course of the Orban government, the consolidation of the national budget and the maintenance of the flat tax, which places a heavy burden on those with small and medium incomes.

Hungarian fuehrer’s failure in London


This music video is called Der Fuehrer’s Face by Spike Jones.

By Ryan Fletcher in Britain:

Jobbik fascists forced to flee

Tuesday 28th January 2014

Protesters drive off far-right as Vona attempts to rally hatred in London

Anti-fascist campaigners struck a blow against the far-right yesterday by kettling supporters of the Hungarian neonazi party Jobbik inside Holborn Tube station.

A planned rally in Camden with Jobbik leader Gabor Vona, scheduled on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, was cancelled as more than 70 fascists were surrounded by protesters and forced to shelter in the station ticket hall.

After two hours they had to get back on the underground and reconvene at a dismal and last-minute gathering in Hyde Park.

Hundreds of anti-fascists gathered in the pouring rain outside the station at 12.30pm to protest against the arrival of Mr Vona, whose racist and anti-semitic political party is now the third biggest in Hungary.

There were tense scenes as fascists dressed in Hungarian colours and carrying flags attempted to leave to attend the rally but were pushed back by demonstrators.

The stand-off lasted around two hours with police forming a line separating the two groups.

The fascists’ numbers swelled as small groups appeared outside the station to attend the rally, which was supposed to start outside Holborn station. Police officers escorted them inside as protesters shouting “nazi scum – off our streets” surrounded them.

Hungarian Marta Berai attended the protest.

She said: “I am against this fascist development in Hungary. It’s terrible that it has developed like this. I was surprised – I didn’t know there were so many fascists in Hungary.

“It’s shameful.

“The Hungarian community in London are outraged.”

London Assembly member and former Labour MP Andrew Dismore spoke outside Holborn station after hearing that the meeting had been cancelled. Earlier this week he wrote to Home Secretary Theresa May demanding that Mr Vona be banned from holding the event.

He told the Star: “I think it’s been magnificent that we’ve been able to stop them. We’ve been able to stop the nazis peacefully and that’s what it’s about.

“We don’t want to get into fights with nazis we simply want them off our streets.”

After being forced to get back on the underground the Jobbik supporters re-emerged at Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park, where police allowed a 100-person rally with Mr Vona to go ahead.

Unite Against Fascism (UAF) said the disruption of Mr Vona’s plans was a “good day for anti-nazis.”

The organisation’s joint national secretary Sabby Dhalu said: “UAF has played a central role in driving back fascism in Britain. Jobbik’s fascist hatred has no place in a modern society here or in the rest of Europe.

“Wherever fascists have a presence, racist, anti-semitic and Islamophobic attacks increase.”

This video is about the anti-nazi demonstration at Holborn Tube station in London.

On Holocaust Memorial Day LINDSEY GERMAN charts how the nazis were able to perpetrate their crimes by eliminating all effective and organised opposition: here.

Hungarian nazi fuehrer out of London


This video says about itself:

AN AMERICAN PHILANTHROPIST CHALLENGES HUNGARIAN NEO-NAZI “JOBBIK” TERRORISTS

1 Aug 2011

OPEN LETTERS

Morvai

Krisztina Morvai, member of the European Parliament for the Jobbik nazi party. “In 1989 she was the first recipient of a British Government scholarship for students in central Europe and was presented with her award by UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher personally”, according to Wikipedia.

wrote an open letter to Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis, United States Ambassador to Hungary, on the occasion that the ambassador visited the headquarters of three parties but not that of Jobbik, on the night of the 2010 general election. This was answered by Richard Field, an American businessman, living in Hungary, the main financial supporter of the party Politics Can Be Different.

“Can anyone imagine Ms. Morvai as the president of the Republic of Hungary, the post for which her party nominated her? As it is, she is an embarrassment in Brussels.”

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Theresa May should take a stand

Friday 24th January 2014

Vona’s Jobbik party has a consistent record of Holocaust denial

Home Secretary Theresa May was guest of honour at the Board of Deputies of British Jews annual dinner last November, telling those present that the coalition government would “not tolerate anti-semitism in any form.”

She has the opportunity to make good on that pledge today by slapping a ban on Hungarian fascist leader Gabor Vona’s planned visit to Britain this weekend.

Vona’s Jobbik (Movement for a Better Hungary) party has a consistent record of Holocaust denial and hatred towards Jews and Roma who were the principal targets of nazi genocide.

A Budapest government ban on Jobbik’s Hungarian Guard movement paramilitary wing was confirmed in December by the European Court of Human Rights, ruling that its marches were intended to induce fear and lay the basis for an “essentially racist” legal order.

The ECHR also highlighted the Hungarian judgement that “the movement’s activities and manifestations were based on racial conflict between Hungarian majority and Roma minority,” which reflects fascist involvement in several murders of Roma.

However, despite ordering disbandment of the Hungarian Guard, the conservative government in Budapest has been half-hearted at best in its efforts to counter anti-semitism.

Hungarian Jews have threatened to boycott the official Holocaust memorial events this weekend in protest at its trivialisation by the Veritas historical institute, set up by the government in November.

Jewish umbrella body Mazsihisz demanded the removal of its director Sandor Szakaly, who recently referred to the 1941 removal of 18,000 Jewish refugees to the Kamenets-Podolsk death camp in Ukraine as “a police action against aliens.”

Jobbik leaders have been able to get away with calls for a special police force to deal with “Gypsy crime” and protests against the World Jewish Congress being held in Budapest, dubbing the delegates “Israeli conquerors” who should “look for another country in the world because Hungary is not for sale.”

Vona claims that his planned visit is to address Hungarians living in Britain on Sunday about national and European parliamentary elections due later this year.

If our government allows him a platform in London, he will attract a turnout not only from fascist-minded Hungarians but also from the flotsam and jetsam of Britain’s far-right that has been in free-fall in recent times.

This country’s own faded fuehrer Nick Griffin has already expressed his delight at forming an electoral pact for the EU poll with Jobbik.

Griffin‘s BNP made a tactical decision some years ago to mute its anti-semitism and put its jackboots and swastikas in cold storage in the hope of making an electoral breakthrough.

As that breakthrough has degenerated into a breakdown, he seeks to enthuse dwindling numbers of the faithful by aligning the BNP with openly murderous groups.

As Griffin himself put it, “there are a common core set of values.” These are visible and readily understandable.

It should be unthinkable for any mainstream politician to allow free entry to an undesirable such as Vona, especially when Holocaust Memorial Day is due to be commemorated on Monday.

If the words Never Again inscribed at Dachau concentration camp are to mean anything, there can be no question of allowing the vile racism that characterised Germany’s nazi regime to be spouted freely.

The Home Secretary should order the immigration authorities to ban entry to Vona and any other Jobbik leader coming to Britain.

Hungary’s UN envoy makes country’s first-ever Holocaust apology: here.

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Keep Hungarian nazi fuehrer out of London


This video says about itself:

HUNGARIAN NEO-NAZI JOBBIK VIGILANTE TERRORISM

15 Aug 2011

Civil Guard Association for a Better Future” (Hungarian: Szebb Jövőért Polgárőr Egyesület) is a Hungarian militant organisation, sponsored by Jobbik, involved in anti-Roma activities in areas such as the town of Gyöngyöspata in early 2011, where they have been accused of intimidating the Roma population with weapons and dogs.

Jobbik, The Movement for a Better Hungary (Hungarian: Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom) commonly known as Jobbik, is a Hungarian radical nationalist political party, accused by scholars, different press outlets and its political opponents of being fascist, neo-fascist, anti-Semitic, anti-Roma and homophobic.

By Ben Chacko in Britain:

Keep fascist Vona out

Wednesday 22nd January 2014

Coalition asked to ban Hungarian Jobbik party chief from London rather than put up with racist message of hatred

Home Secretary Theresa May faced mounting pressure yesterday to stop Hungarian fascist leader Gabor Vona peddling his ideology of hate on the streets of London.

Mr Vona – head of the far-right Jobbik Party and founder of the outlawed paramilitary Hungarian Guard Movement – plans to descend on Holborn, London, on Sunday, the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day.

Jobbik says he is visiting to hold a “meeting” with Hungarian expatriates and has denied reports that he plans to meet representatives of Greek neo-nazi outfit Golden Dawn or the British National Party.

Labour London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden Andrew Dismore has asked Ms May to issue an exclusion order to keep the fascist out.

“Our Jewish and Roma communities in London, for whom Jobbik reserves special hate, need defending against its filthy ideas,” Mr Dismore said. “All our residents need protection from the undesirable audience of far-right activists he is likely to attract.”

Jobbik has a history of Holocaust denial and the Hungarian Guard Movement has been blamed by police in the country for multiple murders of Roma people.

In his new year message at the start of this month Mr Vona called for “drastic, draconian” measures against Hungary‘s Roma community, demanding “the criminalisation of the Gypsies” and saying a Jobbik government would introduce the death penalty and “chemical castration.”

Anti-fascist campaign group Hope Not Hate called on the Home Secretary to heed Mr Dismore’s request for a ban on the visit.

“Jobbik is a violently anti-semitic, anti-Roma party whose followers have been involved in intimidation, violence and murder,” spokesman Matthew Collins told the Star.

“There is no place for Gabor Vona or his nazi Jobbik Party in Britain any more than there is a place for Nick Griffin‘s BNP.”

And London’s Communist Party district secretary Steve Johnson said that timing the visit for the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day was particularly offensive.

Hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews and Roma were rounded up by the country’s fascist Arrow Cross movement during World War II and handed over to the nazis for extermination.

“To give a Hungarian fascist a platform in London this weekend is an insult to the victims of nazi genocide,” Mr Johnson said.

“It shows the fascist threat is still real and demonstrates the ongoing need for unity against racists seeking to incite divisions and hatred.”

Holocaust Memorial Day Trust chief executive Olivia Marks-Woldman said the day was “an international day of reflection on the Holocaust and genocide where we learn lessons from the past.

“We condemn any attempt to distract from this message.”

The Home Office said it could not comment on individual cases or if someone was under consideration for exclusion.

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Poverty in Hungary increasing


This video says about itself:

HUNGARIAN NEO-NAZI JOBBIK VIGILANTE TERRORISM

“Civil Guard Association for a Better Future” (Hungarian: Szebb Jövőért Polgárőr Egyesület) is a Hungarian militant organisation, sponsored by Jobbik, involved in anti-Roma activities in areas such as the town of Gyöngyöspata in early 2011, where they have been accused of intimidating the Roma population with weapons and dogs.

Jobbik, The Movement for a Better Hungary (Hungarian: Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom) commonly known as Jobbik, is a Hungarian radical nationalist political party, accused by scholars, different press outlets and its political opponents of being fascist, neo-fascist, anti-Semitic, anti-Roma and homophobic.

By Markus Salzmann:

Dramatic increase in poverty in Hungary

11 January 2014

Three years after the right-wing government of Viktor Orban came to power, social misery in Hungary has expanded rapidly.

According to a survey by the Research Institute TARKI at the end of last year, poverty in Hungary has continued to grow sharply. Anyone who has to live on less than 260 euros a month is considered poor; by this measure, almost half of the Hungarian population—some 46.6 percent—are below the poverty line. In the Roma minority, this runs as high as 92 percent.

The report shows that four out of five households have no material reserves and would not be able to undertake repairs or pay other expenses amounting to 100,000 forints (around 330 euros). The difference in incomes between the top 10 percent and the bottom 10 percent on Hungary’s income scale has risen by 25 percent since 2009. The share of the lowest ten percent of total income has fallen from 3.1 to 2.6 percent.

According to reputable estimates, more than 250,000 children in Hungary are not adequately nourished, with around 50,000 regularly suffering from hunger. The declining birth rate also provides a clear indication of the level of social misery. In the first half of 2013 there were 5.5 percent fewer children born than in the same period the previous year.

The official unemployment rate has fallen to 9.3 percent, the lowest level in five years. However, the numbers are heavily massaged by the official agencies. Some 300,000 people do not appear in the statistics because they do not receive any benefits despite being unemployed. Youth unemployment is officially below the European average. The reason is that this age group migrates en masse to other countries in the hope of finding better living conditions.

The impoverishment of broad sections of the population is a direct result of the austerity policies of the Orban government, which has imposed massive cuts in public spending under pressure from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. In 2008, Hungary was the first European country to agree to an assistance programme with the EU and the IMF.

In 2009, the risk of poverty in Hungary was still below the EU average. Attacks on almost all social sectors have since reversed this.

The introduction of a flat income tax rate of 16 percent (a so-called “flat tax”) has weighed heavily on those in the lower and middle incomes brackets. The abolition of tax allowances has meant a loss of income for about two-thirds of taxpayers, while the income of high earners has increased by up to 37 percent.

Spending on education, health care and housing has also been drastically reduced. In addition, the “Hungarian Work Plan” introduced in summer 2011, which forces the unemployed into employment programmes that pay a maximum of 170 euros per month, has contributed to the increase of poverty.

There is also a dramatic increase in private debt. Many households took out low-interest loans in euros and other foreign currencies, which they can no longer pay back due to the rapid devaluation of the forint.

Despite gloomy economic forecasts, the Orban government wants to stick to its chosen course. The EU is urging further savings. A report by the European Commission predicts growth of 1.8 percent in 2014, but also an increase in the deficit to 3 percent and a new record level of government debt. Debt would be twice as high as in Poland, Slovakia or the Czech Republic, interest rates on government bonds would rise accordingly and increase the cost of refinancing the country.

The stark social differences inevitably lead to social conflicts. …

The far-right Jobbik party has been represented in parliament for many years. In Ásotthalmon, with approximately 6,000 inhabitants, László Toroczkai, the founder of the fascist youth movement “64 Burgkomitate”, has been elected mayor. Toroczkai ran as an “independent” candidate, replacing the Fidesz-incumbent on a 37 percent turnout. …

In the meantime, a number of mayors in Hungary come from Jobbik. The Gyöngyöspata municipality, where Nazi gangs terrorized the residents of a Roma settlement for weeks, is governed by a Jobbik member.

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Hungarian nazi murderers sentenced


This video says about itself:

HUNGARIAN NEO-NAZI JOBBIK VIGILANTE TERRORISM

Aug 15, 2011

“Civil Guard Association for a Better Future” (Hungarian: Szebb Jövőért Polgárőr Egyesület) is a Hungarian militant organisation, sponsored by Jobbik, involved in anti-Roma activities in areas such as the town of Gyöngyöspata in early 2011, where they have been accused of intimidating the Roma population with weapons and dogs.

Jobbik, The Movement for a Better Hungary (Hungarian: Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom) commonly known as Jobbik, is a Hungarian radical nationalist political party, accused by scholars, different press outlets and its political opponents of being … neo-fascist, anti-Semitic, anti-Roma and homophobic.

By Ben Chacko:

Three get life in jail for year of racist Roma murders

Tuesday 06 August 2013

Three men were jailed for life in Hungary today for six racist murders they committed between July 2008 and August ’09.

A fourth man was given a 13-year sentence for his role as the getaway driver in the “carefully planned” killings. One of the victims was just four years old.

Prosecutors said the men, who have neonazi links, were attempting to provoke a Roma reaction and start a race war.

They showed no emotion as they were sentenced. Spectators shouted: “Nazi killers!” as the four were led away.

The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union said the verdict was important because “the prejudice against Roma and the resulting crimes are the most serious human rights issues in Hungary.”

Police were accused of dragging their feet and refusing for months to acknowledge that the murders were linked.

Amnesty International Europe and central Asia deputy director Jezerca Tigani said that “five years after these cold-blooded killings, Roma in Hungary still do not receive adequate protection from hate crimes.

This should be a wake-up call about the continuous, often violent discrimination faced by the Roma community.”

She called for new laws against hate crimes and statistics on them to be compiled.

Roma make up about 7 per cent of the population and attacks against them have risen dramatically since the 2008 financial crash.

The technically illegal paramilitary Hungarian Guard, linked to the far-right Jobbik party, has marched through Roma areas chanting: “Dirty Gypsies, we will kill you.”

Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling Fidesz party is accused of complicity in the rising racist tide.

Journalist Zsolt Bayer, a close ally of Mr Orban, was fined just £720 this year for calling the Roma “animals” who “should not exist.”

Such language has sparked terror in a country where the nazi-backed Arrow Cross murdered thousands of Jews and Roma in its five-month rule from October 1944 and deported 80,000 people to Auschwitz.

Hungary – on the commemoration day of the Kristallnacht – they are burning Jewish books again: here.

Racism in Hungarian history and today


This video about Hungary is called Jews alarmed at racism by members of the right-wing Jobbik party.

From the Remarks by Amb. Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, delivered at the opening dinner of the WJC Plenary Assembly. Budapest, 5 May 2013:

My own mother’s parents were born here. The Lauder family dates back to the 13th Century, so you see my connection to Hungary is both deep and personal. But sadly, all of the famous Jews I mention – and there are many more – noble laureates, artists and scholars – all left Hungary because they were forced to leave.

The rise of anti-Semitic parties in the 1920s and the 1930s led to the darkest chapter of all – the deportation and gassing of more than 400,000 Jewish men, women and children. A staggering one-third of the 1.1 million Jews murdered at Auschwitz were Hungarian.

It is so clear that if these dark forces of anti-Semitism had not been allowed to rise in the 20th century – not just Jews but all Hungarians would have prospered.

This always strikes me as so obvious – when Jews are allowed to live their lives freely and practice their religion, countries always flourish. It is obvious. But all too often, the irrational hatred that is Anti-Semitism defeats common sense.

After 1920, the government of Admiral Miklós Horthy – a vicious anti-Semite – moved Hungary towards this irrational hatred. His government passed successive anti-Jewish laws and aligned itself closely with the Nazis in Germany. And in 1938, the Horthy regime enacted its version of the infamous Nuremberg Laws. The first deportations of Jews from Hungary to concentration camps began in 1941, on Admiral Horthy’s watch.

I am recalling these facts now not because we are not familiar with them, but because today we are seeing, once again, growing ignorance, growing intolerance, growing hatred. Once again we see the outrage of anti-Semitism.

This is by no means only in Hungary, but also in other places in Europe – in Greece, in Ukraine and elsewhere. We see that Jews and other minorities are singled out, vilified, demonized.

We see that more and more people openly deny the Holocaust, which happens to be one of the most well documented tragedies in history.

We see that a growing number of people actually believe the old canard that Jews control world finance, or the media, or everything.

And we see that Jews again are being blamed for economic troubles.

Today, there are members of the Hungarian Parliament who want the government to draw up “Lists of Jews” who hold public office. That sends out warning signals around the world.

In the press and on television, anti-Semitism and incitement against the Roma minority are becoming commonplace, even accepted. We were shocked to learn that an anti-Semitic TV presenter was awarded a prize.

We acknowledge of course that the prize was withdrawn. But the fact that it was awarded in the first place is the kind of thing that has us worried.

And there is this journalist, Zsolt Bayer, who recently called Gypsies “cowardly, repulsive, noxious animals.” He said they were “unfit to live among people” and called for “dealing with them immediately.”

Such words are reminiscent of the darkest era in European history. Let us never forget the Roma were also victims of the Nazi Holocaust.

Today, Jews are again wondering whether they will have to leave the country, for similar reasons.

Perhaps because they wonder why anti-Semites like Miklós Horthy are being glorified, and why statues honoring them are unveiled by Hungarian officials? Perhaps because they wonder if Jews have a future in Hungary?

Whatever the reason, their concerns must be taken seriously.

When Hungarian Jews are attacked by fanatics, they should be able to count on the unequivocal support of their government and of their authorities. It is the authorities that must stop this before it even begins. …

It is no secret that Hungary’s international reputation has suffered in recent years. But Hungary’s good name was not smeared by the foreign press, but by extremists.

Mr. Prime Minister, we are especially concerned about one particular party.

I am talking about Jobbik, a party that won almost 17 percent of the vote in the 2010 elections. Through its anti-Semitism, its hostility to the Roma, and its paranoid rantings at the outside world, Jobbik is dragging the good name of Hungary through the mud.

That same party held a demonstration just yesterday against our gathering here in Budapest. You have made many pronouncements. And your words are very important.

Hungarian Jews need you to take a firm and decisive lead. They need you to take on these dark forces. They need you to be pro-active.They need your leadership in this fight.

They need you to send the message to the entire population that intolerance will not be tolerated.

And yes, that message must be repeated … and then repeated again. As president of the World Jewish Congress, I ask you to do precisely that and thus to demonstrate this great country’s finest traditions. It is time for strong leadership and even stronger actions. We truly hope that you will be successful.

Fascism and intolerance always single out the Jews first. But they are never the last victims. All good people suffer. Countries suffer. In the end, this hatred and intolerance only destroys a nation’s hopes, its progress and its future.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban failed to impress an international assembly of Jews at the weekend who said he had not done enough to confront the country’s largest far-right party.

Hungary drops plan to name street after antisemitic author Cécile Tormay: here.

Report says Greece could ban anti-Semitic Golden Dawn party: here.

New raid of neonazis at the General hospital of Nikea (Athens) today: here.

Hungarians fight for civil liberties


This video says about itself:

Hungarian Roma groups hold counter-protest to far-right march

October 18, 2012

Some 600 members of Hungary’s Roma ethnic minority hold a counter-protest in the eastern city of Miskolc, in a rare show of unity ahead of a demonstration by far-right party Jobbik against “Gypsy crime”.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Protesters take on repressive new Bill

Sunday 10 March 2013

by Our Foreign Desk

Hungarians gathered outside the country’s parliament in Budapest at the weekend in protest against changes to the new constitution they say infringes on civil rights.

After a demonstration on Thursday, protesters and a number of NGOs including Amnesty International launched a second rally on Saturday against a package of measures due to be adopted tomorrow.

Over the past 18 months the Constitutional Court has struck down several of the government’s policies, including fining or jailing the homeless for living in public spaces, banning political campaign ads on commercial radio and TV stations and forcing university students who accepted state scholarships to work in Hungary for years after they graduate.

But MPs from Prime Minister Viktor Orban‘s Fidesz Party are preparing to pass a lengthy amendment to the constitution that will entrench all those discredited policies and many others, ensuring that the government gets its way no matter what anyone says.

Opponents claim the changes will accelerate an assault on democratic structures started by the Fidesz-led government in 2010, which have also drawn criticism from the European Commission.

Commission president Jose Maria Barroso telephoned Mr Orban on Friday and sent him a letter expressing his concerns about conflicts between the amendment and EU law.

In a written response to Mr Barroso, Mr Orban confirmed “the full commitment” of Hungary’s government and parliament to European norms, but gave no indication that the vote on the amendment would be delayed.

One of the key articles of the so-called fourth amendment says the Constitutional Court can review whether the procedures to pass the amendment were lawful, but can’t examine its contents.

See also here.

Harsh Criticism for Orbán: ‘Take Away Hungary’s European Council Vote’: here.

Hungarian establishment protects anti-Semite


This video says about itself:

In Hungary, fascist groups are targeting Roma gypsies, but the government seems to turn a blind eye on the problem of ethnic minorities, and offers no protection for them.

In Greece, police and other authorities aid and abet Golden Dawn, violent openly nazis.

In Hungary, the sister party of Golden Dawn, Jobbik, seems to have a “special relationship” with the ruling establishment as well.

And what does the Nobel Prize for Peace winning European Union do? The silence of the European Union on these nazis and other racists is deafening.

Very differently from their angry hullaballoo as soon as someone questions their Thatcherite “Chicago boysausterity economic quackery.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Anti-Jewish MP ‘didn’t incite hate’

Wednesday 09 January 2013

Prosecutors have sparked outrage by rejecting a complaint against an anti-semitic MP for the far-right Jobbik Party.

It claimed that Marton Gyongyosi had not incited hatred by telling parliament that it was time to assess “how many people of Jewish origin there are here, and especially in the Hungarian Parliament and the Hungarian government, who represent a certain national security risk for Hungary.”