Yesterday an MP, Márton Gyöngyösi (who had aired his extremist views in The Jewish Chronicle earlier this year) from Hungary’s extreme right party, Jobbik - in Parliament – called for a census of the number of Jews in Hungary (and especially in Parliament) who - according to him - represent a hazard for national security, given the current Gaza conflict. None of Hungary’s MPs walked out of the session to express their outrage, as one might expect following a statement of this kind.
Here is a rough translation of Mr Gyöngyösi's words:
"We need to count how many people there are in Hungary - especially in Parliament- who are of Jewish origin, and thus representing a certain threat to national security. I believe Hungary deserves such a survey….”
Yesterday there was no official reaction, the state secretary for foreign affairs, Mr. Zsolt Németh only said the following: "I cannot support a survey of this kind, I believe that the very serious conflict in the Middle East is not related to the how many people of Jewish origins there are in the Hungarian government." The governement's official reaction did not come until this morning. In a press release the governement condemned Márton Gyöngyösi's speech in Parliament yesterday and stressed that it will step up the fight against all extremist, racist, antisemitic statements and that it is doing all it can to get rid of hate speech incompatible with European norms. The Hungarian government said it will protect all citizens from similar insults.
At least, so they say......
By today various local NGOs have called for a demonstration outside Parliament, and one is scheduled to take place this afternoon.
Pictures will follow this evening.