Hungary anti-Semitism: MP condemned over ‘list of Jews’

The Hungarian government condemned on the 27 November 2012 comments by a leading nationalist MP, who said officials of Jewish origin should be listed because they might be a 'national security risk'.

MP Marton Gyongyosi, deputy group leader of Jobbik, spoke during a parliamentary session on the 26 November 2012.

Mr Gyongyosi appeared to back track on the 27 November 2012, saying he was referring to citizens with dual Israeli-Hungarian citizenship. “I apologise to my Jewish compatriots for my statements that could be misunderstood,” he said on Jobbik’s website.

Jobbik, which holds 44 of 386 seats in parliament, making it the third-strongest party in Hungary, has been accused of stoking anti-Semitic and anti-Roma feelings and of supporting the Hungarian Garda, a uniformed militia which has made frequent appearances in rural areas with Roma populations, despite being banned by law.

• Primary Source

Deutsche Welle, 28.11.12: Budapest protests against politician's anti-Semitic remarks http://www.dw.de/budapest-protests-against-politicians-anti-semitic-remarks/a-16409652

Spiegel Online International, 28.11.12: Hungary's Far-Right Rhetoric Reaches New Dimension http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/far-right-rhetoric-in-hungary-reaches-new-dimension-a-869826.html

ESO: Background information: The state of democracy in Hungary: 'The illness has advanced to a new stage' http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-state-of-democracy-in-hungary-the-illness-has-advanced-to-a-new-stage/

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