A left-wing commentator thinks the government majority is the only beneficiary of the latest far-right scandal. A pro-government columnist, on the other hand, suggests that alarmism is promoted by the radical right and opposition parties alike. READ MORE
A right-wing commentator finds it disgusting that the anti-government movement called ‘One Million for Press Freedom’ (Milla) has managed to prevent the broadcast of a documentary series on the Gypsies on Hungarian Public Television. READ MORE
A left-wing columnist accuses the LMP of strengthening radical right-wing Jobbik by not cooperating with left-wing opposition parties. A founding member of the LMP rejects the accusations, while a liberal pundit believes that after the next election the LMP could become Fidesz’s coalition partner.
There is no Hungarian Gypsy nation, a Roma activist claims. He suggests that instead of blaming the majority, the Roma should create a positive identity for themselves that could help the gypsies to become self-reliant and integrate into society. READ MORE
A left wing commentator is outraged by the decision of a prosecutor to drop all charges levelled against a policeman for joining a group of men who beat up a young Gypsy in a pub. READ MORE
The leading left wing daily deplores the deepening ethnic segregation in Gyöngyöspata, the Hungarian village which made international headlines earlier this year, due to ethnic conflicts between Roma and non-Roma, and patrols by extreme right wing paramilitary groups. READ MORE
It is high time for mainstream parties to pull themselves together and face the gravity of the racial conflicts in rural Hungary – both right and left-wing commentators conclude from the election of a far right candidate as mayor of Gyöngyöspata, in Northern Hungary.
Hungary’s 600 thousand Gypsies are the biggest losers of the regime change in Hungary, but the majority of the population do not identify themselves among the winners either. Ethnic distrust and conflicts are an inevitable consequence. Two decades of political correctness imposed by left wing-liberal intellectuals only served to deepen the crisis. It may come as a surprise that this opinion should have been published in Demokrata, the passionately right wing pro-government weekly that is often accused of racist inclinations. The author of this thorough analysis, on four full pages, without ever blaming any community for the worrying developments is the weekly’s publisher, Gábor Bencsik (brother of the editor in chief András Bencsik) who recently received his PhD degree with a dissertation on the perception of Gypsies in 19th Century Hungary. READ MORE
Another battlefield of the twenty year old clash of two opposing world outlooks in Hungary is the plight of the six hundred thousand strong Roma/Gypsy minority. In March Jobbik, the radical right wing party held a march at Gyöngyöspata, a village of 2,800 inhabitants in northern Hungary, blaming the local Roma (who make up about a quarter of the population) for the suicide of an elderly resident. READ MORE