Call to ban far-Right and 'anti-Semitic' Hungarian party leader from entering UK
HOME Secretary Theresa May was last night under growing pressure to ban Hungarian far-Right politician Gabor Vona from entering the UK.
The Jobbik party leader and his supporters are planning to stage a rally in central London today, on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day.
Mr Vona has denied claims he will meet other far-Right parties, including the British National Party.
In Hungary, Vona’s Jobbik party has been accused of holding strong anti-Semitic views, and of fuelling hatred against Jewish and Roma people.
Labour MP Frank Dobson and London Assembly Member Andrew Dismore have urged action from the Home Office and Metropolitan Police to prevent potential unrest.
Mr Dismore said: “The Home Secretary must take a stand to stop Jobbik’s message of hate being broadcast on the streets of London.
“Our Jewish and Roma communities in London, for whom Jobbik reserves special hate, need defending against their filthy ideas.
“All our residents need protection from the undesirable audience of far-Right activists he is likely to attract.
“I have no doubt that all decent thinking people will join with me in demanding that the Home Secretary says ‘No to Jobbik’.”
The party is the most successful extreme Right organisation in Europe, with three seats in the EU parliament and 44 in Hungary’s ruling body.
Last May, Jobbik members protested against the World Jewish Congress in Budapest, claiming the protest was against “a Jewish attempt to buy up Hungary”.
A Jobbik spokeswoman said Mr Vona was coming to the UK before an upcoming Hungarian election, but had no plan for any kind of far-Right meeting.
“He has no intention of meeting anyone from Golden Dawn or the British National Party. This is a forum for Hungarian citizens,” she said.
“There are lots of Hungarians living in London and the election is coming up in Hungary.”
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “The visit to the UK of a man who has become the face of far-Right and anti-Semitic sentiment in Hungary on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day is deplorable.
“There has been a loud campaign against this man so how come he is being allowed in the country?”
Jewish organisations, the Board of Deputies, the Community Security Trust and the Jewish Leadership Council have written to Mrs May asking that the Jobbik leader be refused entry.
