The European parliamentary group of Hungary s ruling parties appealed in a letter to the EP group leaders of the Socialists and liberals, after Hungarian opposition parties had nominated a joint candidate for the upcoming by-elections in Hungary. Their candidate, who enjoys the support of all Hungarian opposition parties, is notorious for his anti-Semitic and anti-Roma statements. European politicians remain silent over the scandal.

Tamas Deutsch, group leader of the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance in the European Parliament and Chairman Jozsef Szajer appealed in writing to both Iratxe Garcia Perez, head of the parliamentary group of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), and to Dacian Ciolos, the group leader of the Renew Europe party. In their letter, the MEPs drew attention to an alarming move initiated by Hungary s opposition parties belonging to their respective groups in the European Parliament, namely that Hungarain politician Laszlo Biro, notorious for his anti-Semitic and anti-Roma remarks, has been selected as the Hungarian opposition s joint candidate for the upcoming by-elections on 11 October.

Earlier, Laszlo Biro posted derogatory, anti-Semitic remarks on his social media. In one post he wrote: „My dog goes wild when those earlocked Jews go past my house. I have friends working in the hotel industry, they tell me what s going on.” With the remark, Laszlo Biro referred to religious tourism, to Polish, Russian and Israeli Hasidic Jewish visitors staying in hotels in and around his town, Szerencs, in the north of Hungary, Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet reports.

In another post, the politician wrote that after assuming power, the German National Socialists have achieved order and economic stability in Germany. „In a single election term, unemployment was eliminated and usurious Jewish bank capital was removed from the economy,” Biro remarked, adding that „cosmopolitan Zionist circles were already determined at the time to destroy Adolf Hitler s regime”.

Besides, the politician – the joint candidate of Hungary s opposition parties – has also described Budapest as Jewdapest in another infamous comment.

Hungarian opposition parties have formed an alliance in the constituencies of Tiszaujvaros and Szerencs, ahead of the upcoming by-elections on 11 October. Biro Laszlo, a politician of Hungary s far-right Jobbik party, was cherry-picked to be the joint candidate of Hungary s Socialist Party (MSZP) and the Democratic Coalition (DK) – which both belong to S&D – as well as by Hungary s Momentum movement, which belongs to the Renew Europe group.

In their letter, the politicians heading the Fidesz-Christan Democrat group in the European Parliament inform S&D and Renew Europe group leaders that Laszlo Biro have made racist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic and anti-Roma comments on his social media sites on multiple occasions. Tamas Deutsch and Jozsef Szajer state that they are convinced that the support of an openly racist and xenophobic candidate would legitimise hate speech, nurturing sentiments of racism and anti-Semitism in public discourse. The MEPs also draw attention to the fact that having a continuous electoral coalition between self-proclaimed pro-democracy parties and Jobbik, an extremist formation, is incompatible with democratic principles and European values.

According to leaders of Fidesz and the Christian Democratic (KDNP) party, if a civic, national, Christian Democratic, Conservative party in Central and Eastern Europe had even considered a candidate with a similar background, their move would trigger loud and vocal protests by S&D and Renew Europe representatives, who would likely make references to European values. Therefore, the Hungarian MEPs are waiting for a reply to their question of why Europe s Socialists and liberals have decided to remain silent in this issue. The letter s authors say Mr Biro being supported by parties that belong to the S&D and Renew Europe groups constitutes a threat to all Jewish and Roma communities in Europe.

During a campaign event in Tiszaujvaros, Mr Biro was forced to explain his statements to the electorate, but he decided to run away from the members of the press.

Hir TV asked him why he had called the Hungarian capital „Jewdapest”, and what he meant by that. Instead of answering, he simply hid behind his colleague and fled from journalists.

In connection with Laszlo Biro s nomination, Slomo Koves, the chief rabbi of the Hungarian Jewish Association (EMIH) told the Neokohn news portal: „Unfortunately, it comes as no surprise that a candidate of a party founded on the agenda of racism, hatred towards the Roma and anti-Semitism would post anti-Semitic views. Although the past few years have seen efforts to rid the public sphere of such statements, I doubt that Jobbik had managed to really change. From polls commissioned by the Action and Protection Foundation, we see that more than 60% of Jobbik s supporter base still holds anti-Semitic views.

It is frustrating to see how opposition parties push their moral norms aside to inadvertently legitimise anti-Semitism by the nomination of the candidate. As a general expectation, actors of Hungary s public life sould keep a firm distance from the remnants of the crumbling Jobbik (party) and its spirit.”

Nevertheless, opposition parties have all lined up behind the right-wing candidate. Although the Hungarian Liberals party belives that Biro s exclusionary statements are unacceptable, its president – Anett Bosz – was swift to absolve the politician of Jobbik.

She said „I saw in Laszlo Biro s post, and in the statements he has made since then, a clear intention to completely distance himself from his previous comments.”

In an interveiew with the Hungarian RTL Klub television channel, Momentum politician Gabor Kerpel-Fronius also defended Mr Biro. He said Mr Biro had sincerely apologised, and his work so far had convinced Momentum of his true character. He added, however, that the politician s future comments will be of key importance.