We’ve met the BNP, we’ve met Golden Dawn, so now let’s meet Jobbik, the Hungarian branch of the Let’s Foment Hatred of Some Despised Group or Other club.
Jobbik, who have a several MEPs in the European parliament, are known for a series of anti-semitic and anti-Roma statements. In November 2012, Marton Gyongyosi, the party’s deputy parliamentary leader, called for a security register of Hungarian Jewish legislators and ministers. Gyongyosi said: “I think such a conflict makes it timely to tally up people of Jewish ancestry who live here, especially in the Hungarian parliament and the Hungarian government, who, indeed, pose a security risk in Hungary.”
Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, said last month that the three parties had a “common core set of values” and he was seeking a formal alliance with Golden Dawn and Jobbik.
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The UK Roma Support Group have supported the calls for a ban. “Jobbik in Hungary has led the targeting and attacks on Roma communities. Their 2010 manifesto says: ‘The co-existence and cohesion of Magyar and Gypsy is one of the severest problems facing Hungarian society’.
That’s ethnic-cleansing talk.
That’s kinda scary, actually. For once, I don’t think it counts as Godwinning to compare these people to Nazis. A registry of Jews? Coexistence with Romas is “one of the severest problems”?
This is Nazi rhetoric. Plain and simple.
I know, it is scary. That’s exactly what I meant. I don’t think it’s Godwinning at all. It’s genocide-speak.
The same applies to Golden Dawn. They’re not “offensive,” they’re scary.
This is making me wonder if my local brand of racist nutbags have any ties to these people. Might be worth making a stink about if they do.
Why does Gyongyosi think people of Jewish ancestry pose a security risk in Hungary at all? Given the damage done to Hungary and Hungarians surely it’s fascists and extreme nationalists that need to be tallied and closely examined.
That tells us all we need to know about the BNP.
Came across this interesting bit about Jobbik’s foreign policy in their 2010 Election Manifesto (link to pdf download).
This appears to be a reference to Greater Hungary. They’re looking to expand and they consider that their “most important task”.
What means do they wish to employ for this? How do they plan to convince several neighboring countries to give up large territories? They don’t say. They mention the “collective rights of the Hungarians of the Carpathian basin, and … the realisation of their territorial, economic and cultural self-determination”, but it’s not clear how far this is supposed to go.
Does territorial self-determination mean annexation? Is Jobbik prepared to give a helping (military) hand to their oppressed brothers in other countries? Given their flirting with a uniformed corps of party soldiers, one might wonder.
So, let’s go down the list:
Strong nationalist bent? Check.
Xenophobic rhetoric? Check.
Expansionist plans? Check.
Jackbooted thugs? Check.
I’m not sure how much power they really have or could potentially get, but the similarities are chilling.
My last post had a couple of links in it, so I guess it triggered moderation. I’d appreciate it if you could let it out.
Done, LykeX. Sorry for the delay.
I’m Hungarian so I see this stuff first-hand, no translation losses.
Jobbik is plain neo-Nazi in a Hungarian nationalist-chauvinist flavour. (Apparently they missed the memo that claiming hun ancestry makes you markedly non-aryan.) They had a civilian militia called the “Hungarian Guard”, basically consisting of people dressing up in black cargo pants plus nationalist insignia, with the declared aim of “Hungarian self-defence”, which boils down to trying to scare and shut up people they consider un-Hungarian. They were officially banned but it’s not getting actually enforced.
Unfortunately, such tendencies have been alive and well in Hungary for decades, and continue to gain popularity: The economy has been in the toilet for years, and there’s a traditional tendency to blame that on someone trying to oppress the poor Hungarian nation of geniuses (it’s usually the Jews, the West, Russia, the EU, the IMF, neighbouring countries, etc.) instead of actually doing something about it. The Fidesz (=”young democrats”, used to be liberal and did a 180) government actively exploits and supports this scapegoating, and is happily allied with Jobbik, basically using them for the dirty work.