By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife reporting from Budapest
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)– Supporters of a far-right party known for its antisemitic rhetoric and threats against Gypsies, or Roma, have demonstrated against Hungary’s European Union membership.
Up to 2,000 people, many of them waving flags used by Hungary’s pro-Nazi regime during World War Two, called for the country to leave the EU at a rally of the Movement For a Better Hungary (Jobbik) party.
Saturday’s protest came just days after the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said European subsidies destined for Hungary could be suspended starting next year if the government doesn’t rework plans to cut its budget deficit.
Additionally, the Commission has expressed concerns about a new constitution and related laws it says threaten the independence of the Central Bank, the judiciary, media and even religious life.
BURNING EU FLAG
At Saturday’s rally, however, organizers said the EU undermined the country’s sovereignty, just as the Soviet Union did when Hungary was still a Soviet-satellite state.
After several attempts, two Jobbik parliamentarians eventually managed to set a European Union flag on fire during the protest in front of the European Commission offices in Budapest.
There were “too many stars on the EU flag to just cut a hole” as was done during Hungary’s 1956 Revolution against Soviet domination, when fighters ripped out the Communist red star and hammer from the middle of Hungarian flags, a speaker said explaining the action.
A man was seen waving the torched flag on the stage, encouraged by an angry crowd shouting “Ria, Ria, Hungaria!” and “down with Trianon” a reference to the treaty under which Hungary lost two-third of its territory following World War One.
“WAR ON HUNGARY”
“This week the EU declared war on Hungary in a very harsh and open way,” Csanád Szegedi, a Jobbik member of the European Parliament told the flags waving crowd.
Jobbik President Gábor Vona suggested to reporters there was an EU-led-conspiracy against Hungary.
“What the Hungarian government got from Brussels and the European Commission…is not a little knock or a smack, but a kick in the head, while we are on the ground,” he said.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was criticized for his perceived autocratic and nationalistic style, said that he is ready for a dialogue with the European Commission “about arguments, not political opinions.”
CENTRAL BANK CONTROVERSY
Analysts have warned it may not be enough to avoid sanctions. Last week, Orbán’s chief negotiator was already told by the International Monetary Fund it would not yet start talks on requested financial aid by Hungary of as much as $26 billion.
The European Commission, another partner in the requested assistance, says Hungary should first change contested legislation related to the Central Bank and financial stability.
All major credit ranking agencies have downgraded Hungary’s debt to “junk” status, prompting an angry response from Hungary’s embattled center-right government.
There is international concern that euro-skeptic extremists will use Hungary’s tensions with Brussels to increase their popularity. Some opinion polls already suggest that Jobbik is now the second largest political force in the country.
The party has been linked to several paramilitary groups marching through Roma villages to demonstrate against “Gypsy crime.” Several Roma were killed in recent years and there have been dozens of fire bomb incidents against their homes.
REVIVING DARK MEMORIES
Jobbik President Vona, a former history teacher, is a founding member of the Magyar Gárda, an association whose uniforms are reminiscent of those worn by the Arrow Cross, Hungary’s wartime Nazi party.
The group, which was outlawed but whose members were clearly present during Saturday’s rally, has revived dark memories among survivors of the Second World War, when Jews and Roma were deported to concentration camps, often by enthusiastic Hungarians. An estimated 600,000 Hungarian Jews and tens of thousands of Roma died in the Holocaust.
Hungary’s Jewish population of roughly 100,000, the largest Jewish community in Eastern Europe outside Russia, has also been Jobbik’s target.
The party has said that that “foreign speculators,” including Israel, want to take-over the Hungarian nation.
(BosNewsLife’s NEWS WATCH is a regular look at key news developments impacting the Church and/or compassionate professionals, especially but not limited to (former) Communist nations and other (former) autocratic nations. Hungary is also the country where BosNewsLife News Agency has its headquarters).
I’m really ashamed of what’s going on in our country…
“There is international concern that euro-skeptic extremists will use Hungary’s tensions with Brussels to increase their popularity.”
You can bet! I consider myself to be a moderate and very pro EU person. I never thought that once I would consider the option of leaving the EU. The verbal assault on Hungary during the last two weeks changed my mind completely. It really feels like we are under attack. No, not the Hungaran government, but the whole nation! If you start saying that a bank is bankrupt, then it will be. It feels this is happenning to Hungary. Hungary is a proud nation, no one could rule it, not even the Russians were completely able to.
As per antisemites, do not worry about them. They are, of course, attracted to anything extreme but have no support in the public and are in small numbers. The flags and uniform you mentioned are not necessarily antisemite symbols. They are old Hungarian symbols that are used also by some nazis unfortunately and this creates a confusion.
The gypsy issue is a cultural, economical issue and not racial. Again do not bring these together.
Listen, Bos, when are you going to stop lying?
Are you getting paid a lump-sum fee for ending almost all of your articles on Hungarian issues either by citing your inflated number of 600,000 Jews perished during WW2 or by the size of the Jewish community?
Jobbik – and do refute me, asshole – has only said that Shimon Peres stated that he wants to buy up Hungary (after mentioning Manhattan and Poland). Why cannot be honest, you vermin?
Is citing the President of Israel anti-Semitic?
Is it anti-Semitic that I will put you in a concentration camp if you continue to lye?
We want you to leave this country, as we hate hatemongers.
Don’t dare remove my comment.
Dear Kohn Izidor,
Ofcourse I dare to remove your comment. It’s just that in general we believe in freedom of expression. That’s why I publish your hate mail, so readers of BosNewsLife can judge for themselves. Clearly these are no inflated numbers, but based on historical records and other estimates. No I don’t get a lump sum to write this. I didn’t even mention the 600,000 Hungarian Jewish people who were murdered. I have added it, thanks for reminding me. Oh, and also thanks for clarifying that Jobbik goes even further than suggested in the article. I think we have different opinions about what amounts to hatemongers. “Is it anti-Semitic that I will put you in a concentration camp if you continue to lye?” you ask. Am not sure. It certainly doesn’t sound loving. Besides the fact that this isn’t a lie, but unfortunately the bitter truth.
Best regards,
Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife
Hello, just stepping by to know more about the Hungary-UE debate. I just wanted to remark that your “historical records and other estimates” are complete science fiction. As a revisionist I know I have to raise my voice when the holocaust is mentioned in a public debate. It has been completely discredited and the vast majority of people doesn’t know it…
Well, I suppose you imply that 600k jews were mostly exterminated in Auschwitz. I therefore invite you to read “Auschwitz: the case for sanity” by Carlo Mattogno. There are other writings but this one is the ultimate. It is long and technical (it’s based upon LOTS of historical records), but it is worth.
Regards from Italy
Mr Bos,
I’m kinda new as to developments in Hungary, but your article sparked a long dormant obsession in me yearning for the elimination of dictatorial rule, democracy and human rights.
In olther words, your coloumns keep me breathing. When will the next manifestion be presented for hungry eyes?
Dear Stefano,
Obviously I disagree with you that the Holocaust is, in your words, “completely discredited”. Just wondering how many people you believe were murdered.
Regards from Budapest, Hungary
Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife
The Trotskyite Commie EU project is falling apart. Ever since WWII the governments, media has basically been trying to create the new soviet union. Just look the amount of immigration that has flooded into europe in last 50 years. This has clearly been a deliberate policy by the Trotskyites to destroy european culture, society and race.
The situation is going to get so bad, that one day all the europeans will be wishing that Hitler had won the war. It’s like the entire Europe has been intellectually brainwashed by Trotskyite revolution. Just seeing the amount of immigrants in Europe, Paris and London one can clearly see how this marxist disease has infected the minds of native europeans. It’s would be insane not to vote for an anti-immigrant party that will cease immigration. The other options are national suicide, which is what the commies, Marxists and leftists wants.
All of a sudden, my world makes sense again. Mr. Bos, please keep spouting the truth of what we all are thirsty. Without your historically-balanced views, we’d all be left in the abyss, darkness, tepid frustration, full of trepidation, obfuscation and stripped of individual pride. We are winding down toward an untraveled path, rife with uncertainties, labyrinths, destined to eternal degradation. You are a beacon. One, that cries out for help in time of troubles. Keep up the unrelenting pressure, the tireless advocacy and your heart, that drums every passing day for us, Hungarians.
Bos,
It appears my comments have been inadvertently deleted. Would you be so kind as to investigating as to the possible culprit or system error involved? I do hold my comments dear, save them, distribute them in my walks of life. This erasement makes a serious dent in my belief in your honest reporting. Please, do not fail me. You have been the one and only beacon, I trusted for so long. Don’t abandon me, us please!
Dear Mr. Bela Varga,
As you can see your comments were not deleted. There may be a delay at times as we have a system against spammers who have misused this forum to promote services and products that have nothing to do with BosNewsLife. At the same time, the site has been attacked at times by people opposing our mission, but it’s something we have learned to live with.
Thanks very much for your input.
Best regards,
Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife
You seem to be copping out.
1. Why did you distort against what statement was Jobbik protesting?
2. State clearly, Bos, is quoting Shimon Peres anti-Semitic?
Dear Kohn Izidor,
1. We did not distort, just reported what happened.
2. Comments from Jobbik and its supporters are not limited to Shimon Peres. I leave it up to you to judge whether this is anti-Semitic. Can you please warn me ahead of time when you plan my deportation to a concentration camp as you suggested? It wouldn’t be the first time that people in uniforms resembling those of your Jobbik’s Magyar Garda have done so, but I would like to prepare myself if possible.
Best regards,
Stefan J. Bos
Thank you Mr. Bos,
I’ve always had the impression, that Dutchmen were more sensitive to world woes, than others. Your contribution to better understanding between cultures is invaluable in today’s accelerated pace of life. I very much appreciate your commitment to tolerance… oh.. where have I heard that before .. yes, the one that drives Israeli soldiers shoot unarmed Palestinians in a hermetically closed camp. That’s right, I remember now. And I also remember some short, stocky-built Portuguese bum sticking his nose into an independent nation’s business, constitution, threatening with dire consequences from his cubicle in Brussels. Where would I find critical analysis of such unacceptable behavior in your columns, articles assessment so forth, to that end?
Dear Readers, Commenters
I would like to take the opportunity and finally say something here about this whole: “Hungarians are murdering Gypsies” issue.
I read international articles and papers all the time. As a Hungarian person I am very upset
about these headlines. I just don`t understand, how come nobody mentions the fact, how the gypsies are behaving in our society?
Nobody mentiones these:
– in rural villages, where HUNGARIANS are trying to be self-efficient by growing their own food and keeping chickens around the house, gypsies are stelaing everything.
– that the retired community is living in fear in some of Budapest`s neighbourhoods, because gypsies are trying to get into their homes with different aliases.
– that HUNGARIANS are scared to start a family because of the economic situation, but the gypsies have 8 kids. Living from social assistance paid from the deductions of working people who for example cant afford to have a baby because of theit pay.
– that 82.5% of gypsies have less than 8 years of elementary school
– that they are not willing to try to improve whatsoever
I could go on and on and on.
I`m sorry but being Hungarian, and witnessing this I believe we have a right to be upset with these people. No, not to kill them. But do they have the right to live off us???