In Hungary, racism was used for political gains, the politician admitted in a live broadcast. However, the European Commission’s vice president remains silent, just like other politicians in Brussels who like to portray themselves as guardians of the rule of law.
Instead of fighting anti-Roma racism, it was used in a bid to achieve political goals in Hungary. The vice president of the Hungarian Socialist Party admitted in a live television programme that they deliberately chose a politician known for his extremist views to run in last Sunday’s interim parliamentary elections (in the northeastern county of Borsod).
The politician said it was unclear whether the candidate was viewed by locals in Borsod as such a controversial person. (…) “I dare say that in many places in Borsod or Szabolcs counties – and you may think that I’m using a weird concept here – there are people who are racists as a consequence of their everyday lives or life situations, and they view this differently.
In this context, we asked Brussels politicians – who so often proclaim the importance of the rule of law – about their opinion on politicians belonging to Brussels party groups trying to exonerate Jobbik, a racist, anti-Semitic political force. We inquired whether they denounce if some political force is deliberately reinforcing racism in line with its political interests, instead of fighting against it. We also asked Vice President Timmermans if he still considers the mayor of Budapest to be his friend, knowing that the mayor was personally involved in legitimising the opposition’s anti-Semitic, racist candidate.
However, Frans Timmermans, Vera Jourova, Dacian Ciolos and Iratxe Garcia Perez, the greatest defenders of the rule of law, remain silent. So far they have not expressed any concern that their allies have thrown their support behind an anti-Semitic, racist party.