Racist article on Roma by a founder member of Fidesz

10.1.2013

Question for written answer E-000201-13
to the Commission
Rule 117
Ioan Enciu (S&D) , Claude Moraes (S&D) , Josef Weidenholzer (S&D) , Renate Weber (ALDE)

In an article published on 5 January 2013 in the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Hírlap, Mr Zsolt Bayer, a public figure and founder member of the Fidesz Party, made some brutally racist remarks towards the Roma people, whom he described as murderers, ‘animals’, ‘incapable of human communication’ and ‘unfit for coexistence’. Moreover, Mr Bayer stated, with regard to Roma people, that ‘their animal skulls emit inarticulate sounds, and all they understand of this miserable world of theirs is violence’, while criticising ‘the politically correct Western world’ for asking for tolerance and understanding towards Roma. Mr Bayer concluded his article by saying that ‘those animals must not exist. In any sense. This is what has to be solved immediately and by any means!’ These outrageous remarks by Mr Bayer sparked other negative comments in the Hungarian public space, as leaders of the far-right Jobbik party asked for the establishment of a special ‘gypsy crime’ unit within the law enforcement authorities.

The comments by Mr Bayer as a public figure and founder member of Hungary’s governing party are, in our view, shocking, extremely racist, and thus unacceptable. They instigate hatred and violence against Roma people and encourage their social stigmatisation. Furthermore, these remarks are a blunt statement against the European values of human dignity, tolerance and mutual understanding which are the cornerstones of the EU strategy for the Roma.

What is the Commission’s view of these public remarks by a member of the governing party of Hungary in terms of respect for fundamental rights, especially the right of human dignity and the principle of non-discrimination?

What measures does the Commission intend to take in response to these racist and violent remarks?

OJ C 229, 17/07/2014