Hungarian far-right sparks protests as it commemorates wartime leader

(Reuters) – Hungary’s far-right Jobbik party unveiled a statue of wartime leader Miklos Horthy, who presided over the country’s alliance with Nazi Germany, in Budapest on Sunday, sparking protests and highlighting concerns about anti-Semitism in the country.
About a thousand Hungarians took to the streets of the capital to denounce the statue while the mayor of central Budapest and parliamentary leader of the ruling Fidesz party, Antal Rogan, warned the bust would provide an excuse to paint an unfair picture of extremism in Hungary.
Jobbik has stoked anti-semitism in the country, vilifying Jews and Israel in speeches in parliament, where it is the third-biggest party.
One of the organizers of Sunday’s ceremony was Jobbik’s deputy parliament group leader Marton Gyongyosi, who sparked outrage last year when he called for lists of people in Hungary with Jewish ancestry to be drawn up. He later apologized and said he had been misunderstood.
“As downtown mayor I consider the statue unveiling ceremony of Marton Gyongyosi a political provocation and I condemn it,” Rogan said in a statement. “This provocative action will obviously give the western European left-wing press an excuse to cry anti-Semitism and paint a malicious picture of Hungary.”
Protesters gathered in a light drizzle near a church in central Budapest where the large bronze bust of Horthy was put on display at the gates, a stone’s throw from the country’s neo-gothic Parliament building.

more: Reuters