Jewish leaders have sharply criticised Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban for failing to directly confront the country's far-right fringe, suggesting he is seeking to woo nationalist voters from the opposition Jobbik party.
Jobbik members denounced Jewish influence on Hungary at a rally held on the eve of this week's World Jewish Congress (WJC) meeting in Budapest, with party leader Gabor Vona telling "Israeli conquerors, investors and expansionists" to "look for a country in another part of the world because Hungary is not for sale".
'Moral duty'
In his address to the WJC, Mr Orban said his conservative government had a "moral duty to declare zero tolerance on anti-Semitism".
“Anti-Semitism is unacceptable,” said Mr Orban, who claims to be a defender of traditional Hungarian and European values and decries criticism from the EU and US that his sweeping reforms are undermining Hungary’s democracy.
The WJC was not satisfied with Mr Orban's speech, however. The group's president, Ronald Lauder, suggested Mr Orban was scared of alienating supporters of Jobbik – the third largest party in Hungary's parliament after taking almost 17 per cent in the 2010 elections. "Unfortunately, we did not hear words about Jobbik and what they're doing . . . Unfortunately, it's more and more important for governments to placate a group of voters than to say the truth," said Mr Lauder.
“Hungarian Jews need you to take a firm and decisive lead . . . They need you to take on these dark forces. They need you to be proactive. They need your leadership in this fight,” Mr Lauder told Mr Orban in his speech to the WJC meeting.
In a statement, the WJC – the most important body representing international Jewish communities and organisations – said Mr Orban “did not confront the true nature of the problem: the threat posed by anti-Semites in general and by the extreme-right Jobbik party in particular.
“We regret that Orban did not address any recent anti-Semitic or racist incidents in the country, nor did he provide sufficient reassurance that a clear line has been drawn between his government and the far-right fringe.”
Without naming Hungary, German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle told the congress yesterday that the EU needed a wider range of powers to tackle abuses of democracy in member states. "Between the toothpick and the big bazooka, there is not an instrument we can [use] if concerning developments start in a government or in a country," he said.