Inciting Nazi speech on Tiszaeszlár in the Hungarian Parliament

An inciting racist and anti-Semitic speech was given on 3 April 2012, after the agenda in the Hungarian Parliament.⁽¹⁾ Zsolt Baráth, representative of Jobbik, a Nazi party that's existence is obviously violating the Paris Peace Treaty,⁽²⁾ reiterated and brought up-to-date in five minutes the racist accusations of the "Hungarian Dreyfus affair", the Tiszaeszlár blood libel⁽³⁾ of 1882-83 that were deemed unfounded and refused by the independent court already that time.

Although Baráth's speech was censured by János Fónagy, secretary of state of the Fidesz party, he missed mentioning that this speech was a proof of Jobbik's being a Nazi organisation and that this should be followed by the proscription of the party.

Hungary has by now become probably the only country of the world where in case of such a speech other members of the Parliament do not leave the chamber immediately. How can representatives considering themselves democrats share a room with Nazis at all?
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Sources:
(1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbb5lGdurms
(2) http://antifa-hungary.blogspot.com/2011/10/paris-peace-treaty-1947.html
(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiszaeszl%C3%A1r_blood_libel

Judiciary under control of fascistic government

Another step of demolishing the democracy on the way towards the fascism in Hungary can be known by a Guardian article⁽¹⁾:

Victor Orbán

In Hungary, one woman effectively controls the judiciary, and she happens to be married to the author of its constitution
Imagine a European country where one person can pick the judges. And effectively sack them or transfer them to other courts. And draw up court rules. And initiate legislation on the courts. And hold some 60 other specified legal powers
(...)
All these powers are in the hands of Tünde Handó⁽²⁾, a former judge and president of the newly established national judicial office (NJO). No doubt it's pure coincidence that she is married to József Szájer⁽³⁾, a founding member of the ruling Fidesz party and the man credited with drawing up Hungary's constitution on his iPad.
(...)
"When not only the fundamental principles but also very specific and detailed rules on certain issues will be enacted in cardinal laws," it[Venice commission⁽⁴⁾] added, "the principle of democracy itself is at risk."

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Sources:
(1) 20/03/2012, The Guardian, Joshua Rozenberg: Meet Tünde Handó http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/mar/20/tunde-hando-hungarian-judges (The Orbán photo is linked from here.)
      23/03/2012, The Guardian: Unveil the courts? http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/mar/23/1
      21/03/2012, HVG.hu: Guardian: "Ismerjék meg Handó Tündét" - excerpt from the Guardian article in Hungarian, with translation of some parts of it: http://hvg.hu/vilag/20120321_hando_guardian
     Eva S. Balogh 13/12/2011: The end of the independent judiciary, http://esbalogh.typepad.com/hungarianspectrum/2011/12/the-end-of-the-independent-judiciary.html

Tünde Handó

"Until now the appointment of judges was the jurisdiction of an organization consisting of high-level judges, the chief justice, and the minister of justice. This organization was abolished. In its place the Orbán government set up the Országos Bírósági Hivatal (OBH) whose head, appointed for nine years, will be able to pick judges single-handedly. This position as of today is filled by Tünde Handó⁽²⁾, the wife of József Szájer⁽³⁾, Fidesz European parliamentary member and one of the founders of Fidesz.

József Szájer

He was the one who wrote the Hungarian constitution on an iPad on the train between Budapest and Brussels. Moreover, Tünde Handó is a very close friend of both Viktor Orbán and his wife, Anikó Lévai. They all lived in the same dormitory in the 1980s as law students. The friendship has lasted almost 30 years. Tünde and Anikó can often be seen together attending concerts or theatre performances."

(3) Tünde Handó on Wikipedia (in Hungarian): http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand%C3%B3_T%C3%BCnde
(4) József Szájer on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3zsef_Sz%C3%A1jer

(3) Venice Commission: http://www.venice.coe.int/site/main/Presentation_E.asp

"The European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the Venice Commission, is the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters. Established in 1990, the commission has played a leading role in the adoption of constitutions that conform to the standards of Europe's constitutional heritage.

Initially conceived as a tool for emergency constitutional engineering, the commission has become an internationally recognised independent legal think-tank. Today it contributes to the dissemination of the European constitutional heritage, based on the continent's fundamental legal values while continuing to provide “constitutional first-aid” to individual states. The Venice Commission also plays a unique and unrivalled role in crisis management and conflict prevention through constitution building and advice."

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Notes:
"the principle of democracy itself is at risk." - the main problem is not so with principles but as much more rather practise. Fidesz (Orbán) has ability even all of the tools to make the world believe that they are building democracy in Hungary. And the world readily believes it. None of the country needs diplomatic complication, does it? It is more convenient to close their eyes and ears, to believe that there are no any serious problem and to learn what the Fidesz government pretends.

We wonder what if a country doesn't take the advices of this type of commissions⁽⁵⁾. As can be seen regarding the case of the Paris Peace Treaty(1947). The international agreement even contained by Hungarian act is good for nothing. None of any signatories (e.g. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa ) does care about the violation of the agreement. So it can happens in the 21th century in the middle of Europe that a little country has been marching on the way towards a new type of fascism even nacizm undisturbed.

After all at this time the world will not have any excuse (e.g.: "Sorry. How could we imagine that those terrible things would happen? We had no any ideas what were going on in Germany and later in Europe?") for why they allowed to happen. Indeed the victims are not/will not be happy knowing about it.

Authoritarian regime takes shape in Hungary

11.08.2011. World Socialist Web Site, Markus Salzmann:

Hungary’s right-wing government led by Victor Orban has used its 15 months in office to systematically establish an authoritarian regime. It has curtailed the powers of the judiciary, imposed limits on press freedom, purged the media and state apparatus of critical voices and introduced a constitution reminiscent of the dictatorship of Regent Miklos Horthy.

More: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/aug2011/hung-a11.shtml
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Source:
World Socialist Web Site, http://www.wsws.org

Viktor Orbán, a true European

On 2 July 2011, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, President of Fidesz delivered a speech at the congress of his party.⁽¹⁾ A passage of his speech divulging the secret of the success of the Hungarian EU Presidency is a primary evidence of the Prime Minister's exceptional European commitment but also of his resoluteness:

"We have retaliated against the attacks imposed upon us. To the petulant grumblers of the European Parliament, we have unleashed some brain-twisters. A few resounding slaps in the face and a couple of friendly paddywhacks to the scruff of the neck have been doled. We performed our labour in a calm, relaxed and measured pace."

Recently, a series of videos⁽²⁾ interpreting this extremely remarkable passage in numerous languages and dialects has been published on YouTube. The editors of Antifa-Hungary feel called upon to lay before their readers this unrivalled gem of European political oration. The collection of links below contains various versions of the video of the passage of Mr. Orbán's speech.

Fidesz Government: words and deeds

"It is unacceptable if the dignity of any European citizen or community is hurt. Therefore the Hungarian government will take action against anti-Semitic provocation or manifestation of any kind. There is no place for argument on this issue: the Jewish community can count on us."¹ - says Mr. Csaba Hende,² Minister of Defense of the Republic of Hungary at the 11^th Annual Herzlya Conference³ on Israel's national security.

This speech may be compared with an actual case documented in a previous post of us: It is not Nazi that seems to be.⁴ As the Hungarian proverb says: "He preaches water and drinks wine."
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Sources:
(1) Minister of Defence at Israeli security conference, 7 February2011, http://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-defence/news/minister-of-defence-at-israeli-security-conference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsesUjuJ9rY

(2) Csaba Hende, Minister of Defence of the 2nd government of Viktor Orbán (Fidesz): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Csaba_Hende
(3) http://www.herzliyaconference.org/eng/?CategoryID=430
(4) http://antifa-hungary.blogspot.com/2011/02/hungarian-legal-practice-it-is-not-nazi.html

No Orbán Day

1 February 2011. (5–7 pm), Hungary, 1088 Budapest:  Szentkirályi street 18. Fidesz Headquarters⁽¹⁾

Demonstration for democracy


1 February 1946: Hungary became a republic form of government instead of kingdom (The 2nd Hungarian Republic ⁽²⁾)

Today, the Democrats need to act again, because we again have a politician who is authoritarian, dictatorial, so the 3rd Hungarian Republic is in danger.

Recites a poem:
Akos Kertesz, Kossuth Prize writer

Speech:
Gaspar Miklos Tamas, a philosopher
Laszlo Marton, a writer

Hungary: the dictatorial, anti-Semitic 1930s revived

A protest against the totalitarian methods of Fidesz, again.
A Hungarian Facebook group⁽¹⁾ has initiated a demonstration of solidarity with two Hungarian journalists.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 6:00pm
Hungarian Radio headquarters, Budapest, 1088. Bródy Sándor street 5-7.

... the self-imposed cencorship already works very well, maybe except for Népszabadság. Kossuth Rádió for example has suspended the two moderators Attila Mong and Zsolt Bogár for protesting against the media bill by having a minute of silence on air during their show.⁽²⁾

Kossuth Rádió presenter Attila Mong and editor Zsolt Bogár yesterday morning broadcast a minute's silence to protest the media act that Parliament had passed a few hours earlier.

The pair were ordered to the office of new managing director István Jónás and editor-in-chief Ferenc L. Gazsó and suspended from the programme until the case is investigated, although they can continue to work as reporters.⁽³⁾

Conservative German daily Die Welt wrote that "in Hungary we can see how quickly a democracy can destroy itself… it is as if a film that was stopped in the dictatorial, anti-Semitic 1930s is now rolling again."⁽⁴⁾

See our Calendar also.
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Sources:
(1) http://www.facebook.com/egyperccsend
(2) 23/12/2010 http://hungaliennation.blogspot.com/2010/12/2010-51-minute-of-silence-at-hard-rock.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-21/hungary-passes-contentious-new-media-law.html
http://wap.boston.com/art/26/news/world/europe/articles/2010/12/21/hungary_passes_contentious_new_media_law/?p=2
(3) http://www.politics.hu/20101222/kossuth-radio-hosts-suspended-for-protest
(4) http://www.politics.hu/20101223/media-outrage-puts-fidesz-on-back-foot
(5)

• The Times of India, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/article/0djGdUqdAHdHz?q=European+Union
• 24/12/2010, The Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703548604576037672342633358.html
• 23/12/2010, (Reuters) "Hungary Fidesz says can amend media law if needed" http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/8559617/hungary-fidesz-says-can-amend-media-law-if-needed
• and more: http://www.expatshungary.com/news

The map of the spot:

Larger

The Fidesz media law in Hungary

The official downloadable text of the new Hungarian media law (only in Hungarian, sorry) from the authentic website of the Hungarian Parliament⁽¹⁾: http://www.parlament.hu/irom39/01747/01747.pdf
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Sources:
(1) http://www.parlament.hu

Euronews: Hungary's New Media Law Branded 'Heavy-Handed'

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Sources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZnoppMqqTE

Protest against restriction of press freedom planned by Fidesz government

20/12/2010 18:00 Hungary, Budapest, V. Szabadsag square, see the map: http://href.hu/x/e0td

The illegitim far-right Fidesz government has a bill to restriction seriously press freedom that will be probably voted by illegitim parliament. Some civilians are organizing a demonstration for press freedom.
More details here:http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=183484318329980&index=1

The organizers are critisized sharply by some party-fans why party politicians are undesirable persons in the demonstration. Therefore, the organizers are forced to give additional explanation about it.
More details here: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=112184285520305

Afraid of Hungary?

October 15th 2010, 7:31 pm, post by Karl Pfeifer⁽¹⁾

According to a report by the Vienna daily “Kurier,” a presentation at the Austrian embassy in Berlin of a new book by the well-known writer and journalist Paul Lendvai was canceled– because, Ambassador Ralph Scheide said, the book My Squandered Country – Hungary Transformed, might provoke a critical response from the Hungarian government and thus harm Hungarian-Austrian relations.

The Austrian foreign minister, who belongs to the conservative Volkspartei (ÖVP), seems very considerate when his friends from Hungary’s “völkisch”-nationalist FIDESZ (colleagues from the Association of Conservative Parties of Europe) are criticized.

Here are excerpts from an interview with Paul Lendvai and Anton Pelinka, professor at the Central European University in Budapest:

Beginning January 1st ethnic Hungarians from outside Hungary can request Hungarian passports. Are they interested?

Lendvai: Many years ago there was a Hungarian ID card that eased things somehow for them. Eight hundred thousand applied out of 2.5 to 3 million potentially entitled applicants. What matters is whether they get the vote or not. If they do FIDESZ could stay in power for 20 years.

Pelinka: The EU is not consistent. If Croatia joins the EU and the Croatian citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina will have the vote in Croatia as they do now, the Hungarian government would create a precedent for the EU by giving ethnic Hungarians outside Hungary the vote. This would create two classes of citizenship within the EU.

How would you describe Hungary’s attitude to the EU?

Lendvai: They did not understand what membership meant. There’s an anti-Western mood in the country, which is hostile against foreign capital too. Foreign banks are discriminated against. The liberal press does not report this, being too preoccupied with the dismantling of democracy taking place, while the Right is dealing with the past, with corruption. The atmosphere is hateful. Europe is considered a side issue by the younger generation too.

Pelinka: There’s a striking right-wing anti-Americanism. And anti-Semitism. Hungary has the highest rate of Nobel-prize-winners per capita. They all came from the Jewish bourgeoisie.

Lendvai: As did the great authors. They’re all liberal, aristocratic, Jewish. The right wing has nothing to offer. I fear an imminent radical provincialization.

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Sources:
(1) With the permission by the author. Original article here: http://hurryupharry.org/2010/10/15/afraid-of-hungary/
(2) The original article in German: kurier.at, 08.10.2010, 19:31 http://kurier.at/nachrichten/2039822.php

Budapest Experiences A New Wave of Hate

10/14/2010 Hungary, Budapest: "Europe's Capital of Anti-Semitism"⁽¹⁾

Budapest survived fascism and communism and blossomed after the fall of the Iron Curtain. But the Hungarian capital is experiencing a rebirth of anti-Semitism. The far-right Jobbik is now the country's third largest party and Jews are being openly intimidated.
(...)
Neo-fascist thugs attacked Roma families, killing six people in a series of murders. The right-wing populists of the Fidesz Party won a two-thirds majority in the parliament, while the anti-Semitic Jobbik party captured 16.7 percent of the vote, making it the third-largest party in Hungary, next to the Socialists. Unknown vandals defiled the Holocaust Memorial with bloody pigs' feet. A new law granted the government direct or indirect control over about 80 percent of the media. The television channel Echo TV showed an image of Nobel laureate and Auschwitz survivor Imre Kertész together with a voiceover about rats. Civil servants can now be fired without cause. Krisztina Morvai, a member of the European Parliament for Jobbik, suggested that "liberal-Bolshevik Zionists" should start thinking about "where to flee and where to hide."
(...)
Kertesz now lives in the German capital. "Why? It's very simple. Because for a Jewish writer, life is better in Berlin than in Budapest."⁽²⁾

...and with other quoting György Konrád(writer), Gaspar Miklos Tamas (philosopher), Imre Kertesz (writer, a holocaust surviver) - see the original article on the site SpiegelOnline⁽¹⁾.
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Sources, notes:
(1) SpiegelOnline, 10/14/2010, written by Erich Follath, translated from the German by Christopher Sultan: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,722880,00.html
(2) Hungarians, more and more think that anywhere else would be better to live but not in Hungary. Even though they are not writers. Even though they are not Jewish. Just purely and simply they feel increasingly shame and to stand hardly such political and social situations that a Hungarian writer must tell "for a Jewish writer, life is better in Berlin than in Budapest". And, these situations have been forming by Hungarian political leaders for 20 years, each of them, without any exception. See more: Why we have to act?

Hungary: writing on the wall - laughing throughout

05.07.2010. Hungary, Fidesz government proclamation of National Cooperation⁽¹⁾: reflections in Hungary and abroad

http://esbalogh.typepad.com/hungarianspectrum/2010/07/orb%C3%A1ns-proclamation-of-national-cooperation-on-every-wall.html

http://esbalogh.typepad.com/hungarianspectrum/2010/07/the-manifesto-of-national-cooperation-fidesz-government-shot-itself-in-the-foot.html

http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2010/07/hungary?source=hptextfeature

Though here the text is in Hungarian, but the pictures tell everything: http://tasz.hu/hirek/profilt-valt-tasz
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Sources:
(1) See previously post (unfortunately still only in Hungarian): http://antifa-hungary.blogspot.com/2010/07/szebb-jovo-magyarorszag-magyaroke.html

Press freedom threatened in Hungary

02/07/2010 Vienna, SEEMO.org

Press freedom 2010⁽¹⁾


SEEMO Press Release: Hungary Ruling Party Announces Postponement of Media Package Elements Criticised by Journalists

Hungary's ruling party Fidesz on Monday announced a decision to delay a vote on a number of media bills which critics have warned constitute a throwback to state control in the former Soviet satellite state.

Press freedom in danger in Hungary

25/06/2010 Vienna, SEEMO.org

Press freedom 2010⁽¹⁾

SEEMO Urges Hungarian Government to Withdraw Proposed Legislation

Hungary's parliament is due to vote in less than a week on proposed media reform legislation which opposition parties and journalists have warned constitutes a throwback to the dark days of free media repression in the former Soviet satellite state.