CST Blog

Jobbik MEPs don their uniforms

13 July 2009

Nick Griffin's friends in Hungary, the far-right party Jobbik,  have relaunched their paramilitary wing in defiance of a court ban. At a rally in Budapest yesterday Jobbik supporters wore their banned black and white uniform, which their MEPs Krisztína Morvai and Csanád Szegedi have promised to wear to the opening of the European Parliament:

The Hungarian extreme right party Jobbik announced the relaunch of its paramilitary wing, the Magyar Gárda (Hungarian Guard), at a mass rally in central Budapest last Saturday at which Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and public figures were among those who put on the black and white uniform in defiance of a court ruling outlawing the organisation.

At the signal from the "commander" of the group, Róbert Kiss, many in the crowd of several thousand pulled out and donned their Gárda caps and tunics, bearing the red and white Árpad flag insignia that has become associated with the far right in Hungary.

Jobbik MEP Krisztína Morvai also put on the uniform before addressing the crowd. "The Guard is the force that will protect those who are scared and live in fear of crime," she said. Her soon-to-be colleague at Brussels, MEP Csanád Szegedi, said he would wear his Hungarian Guard uniform at the opening of the European Parliament in Brussels, adding that the authorities should "buy their airline tickets now if they want to stop him." He was referring to the breaking up by police of a Hungarian Guard demonstration in Budapest a week earlier, Szegedi said.

Jobbik's insignia will be familiar to Nick Griffin when he gets to Brussels. At the very least he should recognise the red and white Arpad flag from their rally that he spoke at in Hungary last October.

And if the BNP leader feels left out wearing his boring old suit, he could always just dig out an old t-shirt.

Nick Griffin

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