Metamorphosis: A Hungarian Extremist Explores His Jewish Roots

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Csanád Szegedi was a prominent right-wing extremist in Hungary until he discovered his own Jewish roots in 2012. Since then, he has undergone a radical reinvention and is even learning Hebrew. His grandmother, though, continues to hide her Auschwitz tattoo.

Csanád Szegedi's second life began in the apartment of Rabbi Baruch Oberlander, located above the Synagogue in the Erzsébetváros quarter of Budapest. A mohel -- a circumcision specialist -- had arrived from Israel. And with a single cut, the anti-Semite Csanád was transformed into Dovid, a Jew.

Csanád Szegedi, 31, had been the deputy head of right-wing extremist party Jobbik, which he also represented in the European Parliament. He had made a career of claiming that the Jews sought to plunder Hungary and that they had entered into an alliance with the Roma to turn "pure" Hungarians into a minority in their own country. In public, he would often wear the black military pants and vest of the Hungarian Guard, the banned right-wing extremist group.

But then he learned that his family was Jewish, a revelation that turned his life on its head.

Now, he calls himself Dovid Szegedi, eats kosher, is learning Hebrew and goes to the Synagogue every Friday. "This is my true identity," says Szegedi, who is almost two meters (6" 6') tall. He wears an Italian designer suit, scruffy stubble and a black kippah.

The story of Csanád's transformation into Dovid is one of radical reinvention, and also one of a desperate search for a reliable identity, one which continues to elude Eastern Europe even 25 years after the end of communism. » | Jan Puhl | Thursday, April 03, 2014

People & Power: Hungary: Towards the Abyss

Investigating why critics of Hungary's authoritarian government believe it is leading the country towards fascism.

Anti-Semitism 'On the Rise' Across Europe
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Hungary's prime minister has told an international assembly of Jews that anti-Semitism was on the rise both in Europe and Hungary, attributing it partly to the economic crisis affecting the region.

Viktor Orban said that his government has declared "zero tolerance" on anti-Semitism, but his speech failed to impress those gathered who said he has failed to confront the country's largest far-right party.

"Anti-Semitism is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated," Mr Orban told some 600 delegates at the World Jewish Congress meeting, adding that it was his government's "moral duty to declare zero tolerance on anti-Semitism."

While delegates applauded some parts of Mr Orban's speech on Sunday, the WJC was also quick to express its disappointment that he had not specifically talked about the country's third biggest political force, the far-right Jobbik party, whose politicians in parliament have made numerous anti-Semitic statements.

"The prime minister did not confront the true nature of the problem - the threat posed by the anti-Semites in general and by the extreme-right Jobbik party in particular," the WJC said in a statement. "We regret that Mr Orban did not address any recent anti-Semitic or racist incidents in the country, nor did he provide sufficient reassurance that a clear line has been drawn between his government and the far-right fringe." » | Edited by Bonnie Malkin | Sunday, May 05, 2013

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Missing the Point: Hungarian Leader Whitewashes Anti-Semitism – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sought this weekend to convince some 500 Jewish leaders gathered in Budapest that his government is committed to combating a frightening increase in anti-Semitism. His speech, however, was notable more for what it left out than what it said. » | James Kirchick in Budapest | Monday, May 06, 2013

Related »

Jobbik Rally Against World Jewish Congress In Budapest
BBC: Hungary's far-right Jobbik party has staged a rally in central Budapest in protest at the capital's hosting of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) on Sunday.

Several hundred supporters took part, despite attempts by the government to prevent it going ahead.

Jobbik said the rally was a protest against what it said was a Jewish attempt to buy up Hungary.

The party, which says it aims to protect Hungarian values and interests, is the third largest in parliament.

It regularly issues anti-Semitic statements.

The event in Budapest on Saturday was billed as a tribute to what organisers called the victims of Bolshevism and Zionism.

"The Israeli conquerors, these investors, should look for another country in the world for themselves because Hungary is not for sale," party chairman Gabor Vona told the rally, according to Reuters news agency.

Marton Gyongyosi said Hungary had "become subjugated to Zionism, it has become a target of colonisation while we, the indigenous people, can play only the role of extras".

Last year, Mr Gyongyosi had sparked outrage by saying all government officials of Jewish origin should be officially listed, as they might be a "national security risk". » | Saturday, May 04, 2013

Related »

Inside the Far-Right Stronghold Where Hungarian Jews Fear for the Future

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: As the World Jewish Congress opens in Budapest amid a rise in anti-Semitism in Hungary, Colin Freeman visits the town of Tiszavasvári, twinned with Iran and the stronghold of the far-Right Jobbik party.

As the self-declared "capital" of the ultra-nationalist Jobbik Party, the town of Tiszavasvári prides itself on being a showcase for how the whole of Hungary might one day look.

Since winning control of Tiszavasvári's local council three years ago on a pledge to fight "Gipsy crime", the party has been on a vigorous clean-up campaign, banning prostitution, tidying the streets, and keeping a watchful eye on the shabby Roma districts at the edge of town. It even swore in its own Jobbik "security force" to work alongside the police, only for the uniformed militia, which drew comparisons with Hitler's brown-shirts, to be banned by Hungary's national government.

Yet Gipsies are not the only bogeyman that Jobbik has in its sights, as a sign on the well-trimmed green opposite the Communist-era mayoralty building suggests. Written in both Hungarian and Persian, it proudly announces that Tiszavasvári is twinned with Ardabil, a town in the rugged mountains of north-west Iran.

On the face of it, there is no obvious reason why a drab rustbelt town in Hungary's former mining area should seek links to a city in a hardline Islamic Republic 2,000 miles away. But this is no ordinary cultural exchange programme, and friendship has very little to do with it. Instead, the real purpose of Jobbik's links to Iran is to show their mutual loathing of the Jewish state of Israel, which the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, notoriously declared should be "wiped from the pages of history".

"The Persian people and their leaders are considered pariahs in the eyes of the West, which serves Israeli interests," said Marton Gyongyosi, a Jobbik MP and its leading foreign policy voice. "This is why we have solidarity with the peaceful nation of Iran and turn to her with an open heart." » | Colin Freeman, Tiszavasvári | Saturday, May 04, 2013


Verwandt »

Antisemitische Proteste in Ungarn: Rechtsextreme demonstrieren vor jüdischer Tagung
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Immer wieder kommt es in Ungarn zu antisemitischen Vorfällen - gerade deshalb hatte der Jüdische Weltkongress seine Jahresversammlung nach Budapest verlegt. Kurz vor Beginn der Konferenz gingen nun Hunderte Rechtsextreme auf die Straße und brüllten antijüdische Parolen.

Budapest - Einen Tag vor der Jahresversammlung des Jüdischen Weltkongresses in Ungarn haben Anhänger der rechtsextremen Partei Jobbik in Budapest demonstriert und antisemitische Parolen gerufen. Bis zu tausend Menschen versammelten sich in der Innenstadt und folgten damit einem Aufruf der offen antisemitischen Partei. Mehrere Teilnehmer trugen Uniformen einer verbotenen paramilitärischen Organisation.

Dem Jobbik-Aufruf zufolge sollte die Veranstaltung "die Opfer von Zionismus und Bolschewismus würdigen". Jobbik-Chef Gabor Vona sagte laut dem Fernsehsender ATV bei der Kundgebung, Geld für die Entschädigung Holocaust-Überlebender hätte anderweitig besser verwendet werden können.

Der Jobbik-Abgeordnete Marton Gyöngyösi sagte bei der Kundgebung: "Der Genozid, den Israel an der palästinensischen Urbevölkerung begeht, ist schlimmer als das, was sich die Nationalsozialisten in ihren kühnsten Träumen ausgemalt haben." Gyöngyösi hatte Ende 2012 im Parlament verlangt, dass die Juden in Ungarn auf Listen erfasst werden sollen. Jobbik stellt seit den Wahlen 2010 die drittstärkste Fraktion im ungarischen Parlament. » | rls/AFP/dpa/AP | Samstag, 04. Mai 2013

Ungarn: Rechtsradikale marschieren gegen Roma
SPIEGEL ONLINE: In Ungarn sind mehr als tausend Rechtsextremisten gegen die Roma-Bevölkerung aufmarschiert. Mit Fackeln zogen sie durch deren Siedlung in der Stadt Miskolc. Zuvor hatten hunderte Roma gegen Diskriminierung protestiert.

Miskolc - In der ostungarischen Stadt Miskolc hat es erneut scharfe Proteste gegen dieRoma in der Plattenbau-Siedlung Avas gegeben. Mehr als tausend Rechtsextremisten demonstrierten dort am Mittwochabend. Aufgerufen zu der Kundgebung hatte die rechtsradikale Parlamentspartei Jobbik (Die Besseren). Unter den Teilnehmern waren auch uniformierte Mitglieder der verbotenen, para-militärischen Ungarischen Garde. Der Jobbik-Vorsitzende Gabor Vona erklärte in seiner Ansprache unter Anspielung auf die allgemein höhere Geburtenrate unter Roma: "Wer nicht arbeitet, soll nicht Kinder in die Welt setzen." Der Jobbik-Abgeordnete Zsolt Egyed rief der Menge zu: "Wir müssen jetzt handeln, um unsere Zukunft zu retten und Ungarn von der Zigeuner-Kriminalität zu befreien." » | ler/dpa/AFP | Donnerstag, 18. Oktober 2012

Verwandtes Video »

Rechtsradikale in Ungarn: Fackelmarsch gegen Roma
18.10.2012 - In Ungarn sind mehr als tausend Rechtsextremisten gegen die Roma-Bevölkerung aufmarschiert. Mit Fackeln zogen sie durch deren Siedlung in der Stadt Miskolc. Zuvor hatten hunderte Roma gegen Diskriminierung protestiert

Neuer Horthy-Kult in Ungarn : Renaissance des Reichsverwesers

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Ungarns Rechtsradikale werden immer selbstbewusster: Mit Zeremonien, Statuen und Gedenktafeln feiern sie den antisemitischen Reichsverweser Miklós Horthy und einen Schriftsteller aus der Nazi-Zeit. Hinter dem neuen Kult stehen auch Parteifreunde von Regierungschef Viktor Orbán.

In "Ungarn-über-alles"-Manier beschwört die neue ungarische Verfassung, gültig seit Jahresanfang, den Geist längst vergangener Zeiten: den tausendjährigen Ungarnstaat, verkörpert durch die Heilige Stephanskrone, die "geistige und seelische Einheit" einer "in Stücke gerissenen Nation", die Pflicht zur Bewahrung der einzigartigen ungarischen Sprache, des Ungarntums und der ungarischen Nationalkultur. Ein verklausulierter Rückgriff auf den Geist der Zwischenkriegszeit, als der Reichsverweser Miklós Horthy ein autoritäres, ultrakonservativ-nationalistisches und revisionistisches Regime errichtet hatte.

Nun nimmt dieser Geist im Ungarn des konservativen Regierungschefs Viktor Orbán gewissermaßen Gestalt an. Mitte Mai wurde im Ort Kereki in Südwestungarn eine Horthy-Statue aufgestellt - ein Novum im postkommunistischen Ungarn. Miklós Horthy war schließlich ein notorischer Antisemit, der Befehlshaber des "weißen Terrors" in Ungarn nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg und 1944 als Staatsoberhaupt mitverantwortlich für die Deportation von 400.000 ungarischen Juden, die in Auschwitz getötet wurden. » | Von Keno Verseck | Freitag, 01. Juni 2012

Young, Wired and Angry: A Revised Portrait of Hungary's Right-Wing Extremists

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Though largely ignored by the national media, Hungary's right-wing extremist Jobbik party operates within a surprisingly well-developed and self-sustained online universe. What's more, recent studies have found that the party's supporters aren't the "losers" that many experts thought they were.

The leader of Hungary's right-wing extremists rarely expresses himself so clearly. Speaking before a crowd of a few thousand supporters in Budapest's Sportmax complex on Saturday, Jan. 21, Gábor Vona announced the end of liberal democracy in the world. In the speech traditionally delivered before party members in January, the 33-year-old politician demanded "no compromising" either with or as part of the ruling political system, calling instead for "fighting, fighting and still more fighting." "We are not communists, fascists or National Socialists," Vona said. "But -- and this is important for everyone to understand very clearly -- we are also not democrats!" » | Keno Verseck | Friday, February 03, 2012

Jobbik-Politikerin Morvai: "Ungarn muss notfalls aus der EU austreten"
WELT ONLINE: Die rechtsextreme Jobbik hat es erstmals ins ungarische Parlament geschafft. Auf WELT ONLINE erklärt deren Europa-Abgeordnete Krisztina Morvai, inwiefern sie die EU für undemokratisch hält, wie sie über Juden und Roma denkt und was ihre Partei mit der neu gewonnenen Macht in Ungarn anfangen will.

Krisztina Morvai sitzt im Europaparlament, ist aber EU-kritisch. Bild: Welt Online
Wenn die rechtsextreme Jobbik (Die Besseren) ihre gut besuchten Versammlungen abhält, dann weht ein Hauch von Zwischenkriegsmitteleuropa mit seinen Freikorps und Bürgerwehren durch den Saal. Als Partei gegründet wurde die Jobbik im Jahr 2003. Die Gründung der Ungarischen Garde und die Hassrhetorik gegen die angeblich „kriminellen Zigeuner“ beschleunigten den Aufstieg der Jobbik, deren bittere Ressentiments sich auch gegen Juden und Homosexuelle richten. Mit 16,7 Prozent zieht die Partei nun erstmals ins Parlament ein. >>> Von Thomas Roser | Montag, 12. April 2010

Hungary's Opposition Wins First Round of Voting
Hungarian women in traditional costume leave a voting booth in Mezokovesd during Sunday's elections. Photograph: The Wall Street Journal
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: BUDAPEST—Hungary's center-right opposition party Fidesz garnered 52.8% of the vote in Sunday's first round of parliamentary elections, while all other parties gained considerably less support, the country's national election office OVI said after processing 99% of the votes.

The ruling minority Socialist Party gained 19.3% of the votes, while the extremist right-wing party Jobbik received 16.7% and green party LMP got 7.4%. No other party crossed the 5% threshold of voter support to get into Parliament.

Both Jobbik and the LMP will make it to Parliament for the first time. Considerable support for Jobbik, known for its anti-Semitic and anti-Roma statements, could be a concern because it could hinder economic reforms.

The final results from the first round are still due. The second round of the elections is scheduled for April 25.

If Fidesz prevails, the new government's stance on fiscal policy and structural reforms will be crucial for investor sentiment toward Hungary, the first European Union country that secured International Monetary Fund support amid the global financial crisis. >>> Margit Feher | Monday, April 12, 2010

Hungary Far Right Needles Fidesz
THE NEW YORK TIMES: BUDAPEST - Hungary's Fidesz, which scored a sweeping victory at Sunday's election, said on Monday it would focus on creating jobs while the far-right Jobbik promised "spectacular" politics to clamp down on "Gypsy crime."

The leader of Jobbik, which bagged one in every six votes to win nearly as many seats as the punished ruling Socialists in Hungary's swing to the right, said it would not be invisible in the next parliament with its new-found clout.

The expectation on Fidesz to act quickly to put Hungary on the path to sustainable growth after near financial collapse will be huge, and investors are wary about whether Jobbik will try to hamper reforms. >>> Reuters | Monday, April 12, 2010

Across Europe, Support for Populist Parties Is On the Rise
DEUTSCHE WELLE: In recent months, extreme right-wing and populist parties have won significant gains in regional and parliamentary elections in Europe. For them, times of crisis are a boon.

As Europe grows together, expanding its visa-free zone toward Iceland and the Ukrainian border, many citizens are beginning to see themselves firstly as Europeans rather than as citizens of their individual countries.

But not everyone supports the breaking down of national barriers. In recent months, xenophobic and right-wing parties have made spectacular political gains across Europe.

In Hungary on Sunday, the far-right Jobbik party won well over 16 percent of votes in parliamentary elections, marking the first entry of an openly right-wing extremist party into parliament. With the country hard-hit by recession, Jobbik capitalized on rising nationalism and a resurgence of anti-Semitism and anti-Gypsy sentiment to win votes.

Jobbik's rise echoes that of France's right-wing Front National party, Italy's xenophobic Northern League and the Netherland's conservative Party for Freedom, which all saw dramatic gains in recent elections.

Although right-wing ideology takes different forms across Europe, it shares a common strategy: exploiting the fears of voters in times of crisis. Right-wing populists focus on their followers' discontent, says Wolfgang Kapust of German public broadcaster WDR.

"They offer easy answers to complicated problems: the economic situation, unemployment or social insecurity," said Kapust. "Above all, they want to get rid of, deport or 'send home' foreigners and 'the others.' " >>> | Monday, April 12, 2010

Markanter Rechtsrutsch: Weist Ungarns Wahlsieger die Rechtsextremen endlich in die Schranken?
NZZ ONLINE – Kommentar: Die ungarischen Parlamentswahlen haben die politische Landschaft des Landes umgepflügt. Die rechtskonservativen Jungdemokraten (Fidesz) unter Viktor Orban triumphieren. Die Sozialisten, die in den letzten acht Jahren regiert haben, erleiden eine Schlappe. Sie haben die Quittung für Misswirtschaft und Korruption erhalten. Ungarn, einst Spitzenreiter bei der Transformation in Ostmitteleuropa, ist zum Bittsteller geworden. Im Herbst 2008 stand das Land am Rande des Staatsbankrotts und konnte nur mit Hilfe des Internationalen Währungsfonds vor dem Absturz bewahrt werden. Hinzu kommt die Langzeitwirkung der sogenannten Lügenrede des damaligen Regierungschefs Gyurcsany. Dieser hatte nach dem Wahlsieg von 2006 hinter verschlossenen Türen erklärt, die Sozialisten hätten gelogen, um die Wahlen zu gewinnen. >>> C. Sr. | Montag, 12. April 2010

Hungary Elections: First Step to Power for Far-Right Since Nazi Era
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The far-Right is poised to take parliamentary seats for the first time since the Second World War, in Hungary's national elections.

Jobbik Rally Dunakeszi Hungary. Vona Gabor addresses suporters. Photograph: The Telegraph
Fidesz, Hungary's centre-right party, is expected to sweep out the unpopular Socialist government and Jobbik, a far-right party is predicted to take second place after Sunday's elections.

Hungary's largest Jewish organisation warned that the vote was "the first occasion that a movement pursuing openly anti-Semitic policies" has taken a step to power since the Nazi era.

Hungary's election gains for Jobbik follow a upsurge in support for the far-Right across Europe.

Last month, French regional elections, dominated by debates over immigration, saw electoral revival for the National Front. In June, Dutch elections could propel Geert Wilders, whose anti-Islamic, hard-right Freedom Party leads the polls, into power.

Amid rising unemployment, Hungary was the first European Union country to turn to the International Monetary Fund for an £18 billion bailout last year.

Jobbik has risen by using Hungary's deep economic crisis to revive traditional Hungarian scape-goating of Jewish and gypsy, or Roma, communities for joblessness and poverty.

It has close links with the Magyar Garda or Hungarian Guard, a banned paramilitary group with insignia modelled on the Arrow Cross of Hungary's wartime Nazis.

Gabor Vona, Jobbik's 31-year old leader, has vowed to be sworn in as an MP wearing the banned uniform. "I will keep my promise to go into parliament on the first day in a Garda vest," he said.

The Guards, founded by Mr Vona, have polarised Hungary by staging a series of marches against "gypsy crime" through small countryside towns and villages with large Roma communities. An unprecedented series of Roma killings in 2008 and 2009 claimed six lives in several villages. >>> Bruno Waterfield, in Brussels | Sunday, April 11, 2010

Machtwechsel: Ungarn gleitet nach rechts ab
20MINUTEN.ch: Bei der Parlamentswahl in Ungarn hat die konservative Fidesz-Partei des ehemaligen Ministerpräsidenten Viktor Orban einen klaren Sieg errungen. Damit steht das wirtschaftlich angeschlagene EU- Mitgliedsland vor einem Rechtsruck.

Die Rechte hat in Ungarn am Sonntag die Parlamentswahlen nach Umfragen klar für sich entschieden. Den grossen Meinungsforschungsinstituten des Landes zufolge stimmten 54 bis 57 Prozent der Wähler für den rechts-konservativen Bund Junger Demokraten (FIDESZ). Damit kommt es wohl zum Regierungswechsel.

Auch die rechtsextreme Jobbik (Die Besseren) dürfte mit 15 bis 17 Prozent erstmals ins Parlament einziehen. Dagegen kam die regierende Ungarische Sozialistische Partei (MSZP) den Umfragen zufolge nur auf 19 bis 20 Prozent der Stimmen.

Die links-ökologische Partei «Politik kann anders sein» (LMP) dürfte mit 5,5 bis 6 Prozent erstmals den Sprung in die Volksvertretung geschafft haben.

Offizielle Ergebnisse wurden nicht mitgeteilt, da einige Wahllokale länger geöffnet bleiben mussten. Die FIDESZ-Partei erklärte, die Wahlleitung überschreite ihre Kompetenzen und müsse zurücktreten.

In mehreren Bezirken hatten sich lange Schlangen vor den Wahllokalen gebildet. Deshalb war dort die Stimmabgabe auch noch nach der offiziellen Schliessung um 19.00 Uhr möglich. Wie die Landeswahlkommission (OVB) in Budapest mitteilte, war jedoch nicht erhöhtes Wähleraufkommen Grund für die Warteschlangen, vielmehr hätten administrative Unzulänglichkeiten dazu geführt. Wohl absolute Mehrheit für FIDESZ >>> sda | Sonntag, 11. April 2010

La Hongrie s'apprête à basculer à droite
LE MONDE: La Hongrie, qui exercera au premier semestre 2011 la présidence de l'Union européenne, se prépare à un bouleversement de son paysage politique lors des élections législatives des 11 et 25 avril. Tous les instituts de sondage prédisent une majorité absolue, peut-être même des deux tiers, à la principale force de l'opposition de droite, le Fidesz, de l'ancien premier ministre Viktor Orban.

L'autre enjeu de ce scrutin législatif, le sixième depuis la fin du communisme il y a vingt ans, sera de confirmer ou non la poussée du parti d'extrême droite Jobbik, qui a capté d'emblée près de 15 % des voix aux élections européennes en 2009, déjouant alors tous les pronostics. Sur sa lancée, le parti de Gabor Vona et de Krisztina Morvai, ses deux figures de proue, s'est donné pour objectif de décrocher la deuxième place au Parlement, devant MSZP, le Parti socialiste hongrois. Au pouvoir depuis 2002, ce dernier est usé par des affaires de corruption qui ont écœuré l'opinion publiqu, et par la politique de rigueur budgétaire qu'ils ont dû se résoudre à mener, avec le secours du Fonds monétaire international, pour sauver le pays de la banqueroute. Mais il semble que le Jobbik (son nom joue à la fois sur l'idée de "droite" et de "meilleur") a visé trop haut, et devra se contenter de la troisième place. >>> Joëlle Stolz | Dimanche 11 Avril 2010

WIKI: Gábor Vona >>>

Far-right Party Jobbik On Course for Breakthrough in Hungarian Elections
The Vencel family display their support of the Hungarian Hussar Unit at the poll. Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: A far-right party whose candidates have voiced anti-Semitic and anti-Gypsy rhetoric was on course for a breakthrough in Hungarian elections amid predictions that it could even beat the governing socialists into third place.

Jobbik, which maintains a uniformed wing that marches in military formation, was set last night to win its first parliamentary seats against the backdrop of anti-Government resentment and an economic downturn.

Opinion polls yesterday predicted a landslide victory for the opposition centre-right Fidesz party, which last ruled between 1998 and 2002.

It has promised to create a million jobs over the next decade, stamp out corruption and revamp the Byzantine tax system in a country where unemployment is 11 per cent. Harsh austerity measures have also been implemented under the terms of an IMF loan of €20 billion (£17.5 billion) in 2008.

However, there are fears that a strong showing by Jobbik, one of a number of far-right groups making gains in Europe, could weaken investor confidence and deepen the country’s crisis, which may account for a stream of recent stories attacking the party.

The Jobbik spokesman Andras Kiraly resigned after pictures of him at the Toronto Gay Pride parade appeared on the internet, and a female member of the Magyar Garda, the party’s uniformed organisation, was revealed to have starred in a lesbian pornographic film. >>> Adam LeBor, Budapest | Monday, April 12, 2010

Hungarian Jews Urged to Vote Against Extremists
JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY (JTA): BUDAPEST, Hungary -- On the eve of parliamentary elections in Hungary, the largest Hungarian Jewish umbrella organization called upon Jews to vote against anti-Semitic candidates.

“This is the first occasion that a movement pursuing openly anti-Semitic policies and challenging the basic values of Hungarian statehood” is on the verge of entering the Hungarian Parliament, the Association of Hungarian Jewish Religious Communities said in a reference to Jobbik, the Hungarian far-right party. >>> | Sunday, April 11, 2010

Anti-Semitism Stirs as Hungary Goes to Polls
A supporter of the far-right party Jobbik. Photograph: The Sunday Times
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Rabbi Shmuel Raskin and his 50 guests were celebrating the Jewish festival of Passover last weekend when two stones smashed though the double-glazed windows of his home in the centre of Budapest.

Police said they had probably been fired from a sling. The group continued with its ceremonies, but in silence and behind closed shutters. The incident was one of a series of hate attacks in Hungary amid an atmosphere of heightened racial tension in the run-up to today’s general election.

During a recent speech by Gabor Demszky, the mayor of Budapest, a mob chanted “Jewish pigs” and “To the concentration camps”. Election posters have been smeared with yellow Stars of David and anti-Semitic slogans.

Budapest rabbis describe racial epithets being shouted as they walk their children to school, slogans such as “Jews go to Israel” are daubed in the streets, accompanied by swastikas, while cars bear stickers with the slogan “Jew-free car”.

Critics connect the abuse to the rise of the extreme right-wing Jobbik party, which has been accused of anti-Semitism and xenophobia.

The increase in violent attacks on minorities — a dozen Roma (gypsies) have been gunned down in recent years — has coincided with the emergence of Jobbik, which won 15% support in the European elections held in 2009. Opinion polls suggest that it will attract between 13% and 20% today.

Although the centre-right Fidesz opposition party of Viktor Orban, the former prime minister, is expected to win a landslide victory, Jobbik, led by Gabor Vona, a 31-year-old former history teacher, could become the second-largest party following a populist campaign dominated by attacks on corruption and “Roma crime”.

The party denies accusations of neo-Nazism but Gordon Bajnai, the caretaker prime minister, warned that the “monster” was at the door and threatening to “crush” Hungarian democracy. >>> Bojan Pancevski in Budapest | Sunday, April 11, 2010

Hungary's National Election


WELT ONLINE: Rechtsruck: Die Auferstehung der Pfeilkreuzler in Ungarn >>> Von Rudolf Ungváry | Freitag, 09. April 2010

Rechtsruck: Die Auferstehung der Pfeilkreuzler in Ungarn
WELT ONLINE: Am Sonntag wählt Ungarn: Die Prognosen lassen einen Triumph antidemokratischer und antisemitischer Kräfte befürchten. Die Situation erinnert an die düstere Vorkriegszeit. Das Land wird überschüttet mit völkisch-paranoiden Parolen, mit Fabulierungen über das "ungarische Wesen".

Die Wahlen in Ungarn werden durch die Vergangenheit bestimmt. Durch eine Vergangenheit, die in die 30er- und 40er-Jahren des vorigen Jahrhunderts reicht und im Jahre 1945 eingefroren wurde.

Ungarn ist im Vergleich zu Westeuropa ein Entwicklungsland. Es ist von seiner Geschichte noch nicht geheilt, somit im Grunde „frühreif“ für die Mitgliedschaft in der EU. Was hier die politische Atmosphäre bestimmt, ist westlich der Elbe und der Leitha längst überwunden worden: Die Mehrheit der Bevölkerung ist autoritär eingestellt.

Sie hält wenig von Freiheit ruft nach Ordnung. Das demokratische Prinzip eines Gleichgewichtes zwischen Freiheit und Ordnung ist in den Augen der Mehrheit eine liberal-kosmopolitische Täuschung. >>> Von Rudolf Ungváry | Freitag, 09. April 2010

Hungary Party to Follow European Extremism's Move Away from Fringes
THE GUARDIAN: Extremist anti-Roma group Jobbik on course for success at this Sunday's elections in Hungary

Gabor Vona, chairman of Hungary's far right party Jobbik delivers a speech in Budapest ahead of elections this weekend. Photograph: The Guardian
It has been a good few weeks for racists, populists and rightwing radicals across Europe. A comeback for Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front in French regional elections. Big gains in Italy for the anti-immigrant Northern League. The Islam-baiting campaign of Geert Wilders in the Netherlands has taken his Freedom party to 25% and poll position ahead of June's general election.

And this weekend, Hungary is facing its biggest political earthquake in 20 years of democracy. On Sunday, the mainstream right and the neofascists are expected to take over the Westminster lookalike parliament on the banks of the Danube. It will be a landslide victory.

The left and the liberals who have run the country for eight years, taking Hungary to the brink of bankruptcy and into the arms of the International Monetary Fund, will be reduced to a rump.

The next prime minister, Viktor Orban, a combative populist, is leading his centre-right Fidesz party to a huge majority, running at more than 60% in the opinion polls. He may even secure a two-thirds majority enabling him to rewrite Hungary's constitution at will.

But the biggest breakthrough will be for Jobbik, the extremist antisemitic and antigypsy movement "for a better Hungary", which will win seats in the parliament for the first time and may emerge as the second biggest party.

"It's a flood that's coming. Everyone knows it's coming. We're just waiting for it. Will we drown or will we swim," said Pal Tamas, director of Budapest's Institute of Sociology. "People are trying to use the antifascist argument against Jobbik. But it's not working. It's being very poorly received."

During the past week a rabbi's home in the capital has been attacked during Passover and a Holocaust memorial was defaced. Budapest Jews have taken to the streets to protest. The country's large and marginalised Roma and gypsy communities are bracing themselves for a surge in racism and harassment. Roma solution >>> Ian Traynor, Europe editor | Thursday, April 08, 2010

Rise of Hungary's Far-Right Jobbik Party Stirs Disturbing Echoes of the 1940s
THE TELEGRAPH: As Hungary prepares to vote in a crucial election, the far-Right Jobbik party expects great success - to the consternation of democrats and those old enough to remember the fascist past.

Jobbik Rally Dunakeszi Hungary. Vona Gabor addresses suporters. Photograph: The Telegraph
As the youthful leader of Hungary's far-right Jobbik party arrived for an election rally, his followers gave him a welcome that had disturbing echoes of Europe in the 1940s.

Two ranks of Hungarian Guards, in paramilitary-style uniforms, snapped to attention as Gabor Vona marched past them. Party leaders saluted, and a red and white banner was raised - one that looked suspiciously similar to Hungary's old fascist emblem.

The rally in a school hall in the normally sleepy town of Dunakeszi was packed with hundreds of supporters. They cheered as Mr Vona promised to rid Hungary of corruption and crack down on foreign interests.

He spoke about stopping Roma, the country's biggest ethnic minority, from sponging off the state - forcing anyone claiming benefits to perform public service in return. He promised to "give back Hungary's national pride and identity".

The enthusiasm showed that Mr Vona has come a long way since Jobbik launched seven years ago. Its fierce nationalistic agenda and far-right rhetoric were soundly rejected by the electorate then. In national elections in 2006 it polled a miserable 2.2 per cent, failing to get a single member of parliament elected.

But now as Hungary prepares for crucial new elections the tide has turned, and it is flowing strongly Jobbik's way. To the horror of democrats who thought Hungary had shaken itself free of political extremism in 1989 with the fall of communism, Jobbik is on course to become the second biggest party in parliament. >>> Matthew Day in Budapest | Saturday, April 03, 2010

Far Right Is the Centre of Attention
SCOTSMAN: CLAD in black trousers, waistcoats and caps, the Hungarian Guard stand to attention and pledge to defend their nation.

Then, in scenes reminiscent of Europe's dark past, they march with flags and banners flying, hoping to be the trailblazers of a Hungarian nation reborn.

The guard, the uniformed wing of the small political party Jobbik, are also the vanguard of a resurgent and confident extreme right wing, aiming to make gains across central Europe in next month's European parliament elections.

Jobbik – short for Movement for a Better Hungary – aims to scoop 10 per cent of the national vote as polls across the continent open from 4-7 June.

In the Czech Republic, the National Party shocked the country when it offered a "final solution to the gypsy problem", while its larger counterpart, the Workers' Party, has few qualms about sending its "security brigades" into neighbourhoods dominated by gypsies, or Roma – a group which is often a target.

Ondrej Cakl, an expert on the Czech far right, said a few years ago, Workers' Party meetings attracted only a couple of dozen, but now they attract hundreds.

In Romania, one party urges "Christians and patriots to rid the country of thieves". In Austria, the powerful Freedom Party, led by Heinz-Christian Strache, has high expectations from June's vote: last September, it took 17.5 per cent of the vote in national elections, and experts predict it will make significant gains on the 6 per cent it won in the last European elections.

Across the continent, the far right could well win more than the 25 seats it needs to form a bloc in the European Parliament and secure about £1 million in annual funding. >>> By Matthew Day in Warsaw | Monday, May 25, 2009