The Hungarian left-wing held a small rally against the nationalist political party Jobbik on Sunday. The demonstration was held in front of the Parliament Building in downtown Budapest. Around 10,000 demonstrators showed up to protest against Jobbik. Representatives from all the political parties were present at the demonstration except Jobbik. There were several speeches given by prominent left-wing politicians and personalities.
The left in Hungary calls Jobbik a fascist political party while interestingly enough, many left-wing politicians are former communists. The communist regime existed in Hungary for nearly 40 years and held power with an iron fist. This regime was brutal as it executed, tortured and imprisoned countless Hungarians while it lead the nation. At the rally, a smaller group of counter demonstrators showed up but were prevented by the police in getting close due to fears that there would be violence. The left-leaning media claimed higher numbers of demonstrators than were actually there.
The demonstration was initiated because of the recent speech by Jobbik member of parliament Márton Gyöngyösi. He said that Hungarian-Israeli dual citizens who held public office were a security risk to the country. There are Hungarians on the right that believe that dual citizens should not be able to hold public office because of dual loyalties. They believe that Hungarian members of parliament should be loyal to Hungary only and not to any other country. It has recently been discovered that there are politicians on the left that wear flag pins of other countries on their clothing during left-wing functions.
István
