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Hungarian Parliamentarian Wants Government to Draw up List of Dangerous Jews

Two different statues of Miklos Horthy went up in Hungary during my brief visit there this summer

Hungary, long considered one of post-communist Central Europe's biggest success stories, has been backsliding fast since the rancidly populist Fidesz–Hungarian Civic Union party headed by Viktor Orbán won a two-thirds parliamentary majority in 2010. Among the many illiberal developments has been an alarming resurgence in government-sanctioned anti-Semitism.

Now Reuters is reporting on an appalling new development:


A Hungarian far-right politician urged the government to draw up lists of Jews who pose a "national security risk", stirring outrage among Jewish leaders who saw echoes of fascist policies that led to the Holocaust. Marton Gyongyosi, a leader of Hungary's third-strongest political party Jobbik, said the list was necessary because of heightened tensions following the brief conflict in Gaza and should include members of parliament. […] Gyongyosi, who leads Jobbik's foreign policy cabinet, told Parliament: "I know how many people with Hungarian ancestry live in Israel, and how many Israeli Jews live in Hungary," according to a video posted on Jobbik's website late on Monday. "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 national security risk to Hungary."

Jobbik holds 44 of 386 seats in the Hungarian Parliament, according to the Reuters report. Fidesz and the government condemned Gyongyosi's statement.

A half-million Hungarian Jews died during the Holocaust, often with the enthusiastic participation of their non-Jewish countrymen.

Link via the Twitter feed of Nick Denton.

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