Hungarian prime minister calls for offensive against extremism
Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany called Wednesday for an offensive against neo-fascism after a string of extremist outrages, the latest of which targeted a gay government official.
The right-wing commercial station Lanchid radio had Wednesday posted on its website a photo montage of Gabor Szetey, state secretary in charge of human resources, standing in front of the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz.
The radio station issued an apology Wednesday and said it had dismissed its duty editor -- who is also a municipal official of the main right-wing opposition Fidesz party -- and the editor-in-chief of its Internet pages.
It was the latest extremist incident to spark an outcry in Hungary, following the formation of a paramilitary group over the weekend by a fringe far-right, neo-Fascist political party.
"The Fascists are gathering. They are not knocking on the door, they are right here among us," Gyurcsany, flanked by his cabinet ministers, told a press conference.
International Jewish groups and Roma (gypsy) rights groups have asked Hungarian authorities to ban the paramilitary group, fearing a resurgence of extremism.
Gyurcsany blamed right-wing politicians for the increasingly open displays of extremism in Hungary, accusing them of having failed in the past to openly condemn far-right groups and for forging political alliances with them.
"When will we speak up? When the gypsy because he is gypsy, the gay because he is gay, the blonde because he is blonde, and the liberal because he is liberal will be branded an outcast and will be spit upon or hit? Haven't we had enough?" Gyurcsany said.
Gyurcsany called on right-wing parties to break off political alliances with Jobbik, the extremist party which founded the paramilitary group.
Fidesz, led by former prime minister Viktor Orban, has alliances in various municipalities with Jobbik, and a Fidesz MP spoke at the inauguration of the paramilitary group on Saturday.
Fidesz has issued a statement asking the paramilitary group to respect Hungarian law.
Gyurcsany also called on President Laszlo Solyom to personally condemn the rise of extremism.
Solyom's spokesman, Ferenc Kumin, said over the weekend that "the head of state condemns demonstrations that can give rise to fear and equally condemns the manipulation of fear," in a thinly-veiled charge that Gyurcsany was exploiting the far-right issue for political gain.
Fidesz leaders have also repeated this, saying Gyurcsany's offensive was trying to draw attention away from widespread discontent over the government's austerity measures, which have made the Socialist-Liberal coalition unpopular.
But Gyurcsnay dismissed this, saying silence was not effective against extremism.
"The experience of the the past weeks and days and today's Fascist photo illustration all prove that silence and speech which can be misinterpreted only leads to a deteriorating situation," Gyurcsany said.
Prior to the formation of the para-military group, Jobbik sympathizers disrupted a gay rights rally in the capital in July, assaulting and injuring several participants.
AFP
