A member of Hungary's far-right party recently incited outrage in calling for the government to create a "list of Jews" in the country who could pose a "national security risk." "Márton Gyöngyösi, leader of Hungary's third-strongest political party Jobbik, said the list was necessary because of heightened tensions following the brief conflict in Gaza and should include members of parliament," reported Reuters.
Public outcry led Gyöngyösi to issue a tepid apology in which he claimed he never asked for a list of Jews, but “citizens with dual Israeli-Hungarian citizenship.”
Reuters noted that between 500,000 and 600,000 Hungarian Jews died in the Holocaust, according to the Holocaust Memorial Centre in Budapest. According to some accounts, one in three Jews killed in Auschwitz were Hungarian nationals.
Like other far-right parties gaining ground in economically flailing Europe, Jobbik registered as a political party in 2003 and has gained increasing influence while vilifying Jews and Hungary's 700,000-strong Roma population.
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