I am writing in reference to the opinion piece “In parts of Europe, the far right rises again” by Sonni Efron published in The Korea Herald on May 12, 2014. Taking the example of two European countries, Hungary and Greece, the author raises concerns over the rise of far-right parties in Europe.
Shortly after his reelection in a fair and democratic process in April, in which the governing center-right party’s previous two-thirds majority had been preserved, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban participated in the Europe Forum Conference in Berlin on May 8 and used that opportunity to reconfirm his government’s commitment to fighting radicalism in Hungary. Having made clear that it is the center that has such a sweeping majority in the Hungarian parliament, the prime minister acknowledged the “tide of radicals” but also stated that in “Hungary, politics building on European cooperation, human dignity and common sense has built high dikes.”
The track record of the Hungarian government underlines its resolve to marginalize both in and outside the halls of Parliament radical voices, which undoubtedly exist in Hungarian society but do not reflect the majority opinion in my country. Prime Minister Orban has repeatedly stressed the government’s “zero tolerance policy” toward anti-Semitism and anti-Roma attitudes. Incidents of anti-Semitism have been promptly followed up by high-level official condemnations on the part of the Hungarian government or by legislative changes.
Leading representatives of Hungary have declared on several occasions that Hungary takes full responsibility for the atrocities committed by Hungarians against members of Hungary’s Jewish community during World War II, with the Prime Minister pledging to the Hungarian Jewish community that “the government will do everything in its power to ensure that the (Jewish community’s) religious traditions and faith can be practiced without fear.” 2014 has been dedicated to commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Hungarian Holocaust. In a statement on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, 2014, Hungarian President Janos Ader declared that the “tragedy of Hungarian Jews is the pain and the irreplaceable loss of our entire political nation.”
In combating anti-Semitism, the government focuses on law enforcement and legal measures, on Holocaust education and remembrance, and on support for Jewish cultural renaissance in Hungary. Parliament has banned paramilitary groups, amended the Hungarian penal code to make the public denial of the Holocaust a crime, and tightened the House Rules on hate speech by MPs, giving the presiding chairman of parliament a stronger disciplinary authority to exclude any member of Parliament who uses offensive expressions directed at national, ethnic or religious groups, or at individuals.
Among other measures, the government has introduced the observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day in public schools and made Holocaust education a compulsory and integral part of the national curriculum. The first Orban government established a Holocaust Memorial and Documentation Center and this year a major new Holocaust memorial site will be completed to commemorate the child victims of the Hungarian Holocaust. In 2012, Hungary honored the 100th anniversary of the birth of Raoul Wallenberg and has supported the Tom Lantos Institute in its efforts to combat anti-Semitism.
Being the home of Central Europe’s largest Jewish community and a sizeable Roma population, Hungary has a special responsibility in fighting a dangerous phenomenon that has reared its ugly head across Europe. This is a crucial mission, which the vast majority of Hungarian society fully supports, and in the implementation of which Hungary is looking for the cooperation of all those in Europe and beyond who share the same goal of not allowing the terrible tragedies of the past to be repeated.
By Gabor Csaba
Gabor Csaba is the Hungarian ambassador to Korea. ― Ed.
