BUDAPEST (JTA) — Banned by a court in Hungary, the extreme-right Hungarian Guard has resurfaced in neighboring Romania.
A chorus of demands is being raised throughout Hungary for a second court ruling to ban the extreme nationalist political party Jobbik, the paymaster of the Guard, along with its paramilitary prodigy.
The Guard will be heavily represented at a summer camp organized by the Hungarian Youth of Transylvania, or EMF, movement, attracting some 10,000 participants. The venue is Judetul Harghita in Romania, traditionally populated by Jews, Gypsies and Hungarians as well as Romanians. EMF already has tried to form an organization modeled on the Hungarian Guard.
One dominant theme at the camp will be the restoration of Hungarian autonomy in the region, lost after World War I. The guests of honor will include Gabor Vona, leader of the Jobbik Party.
In Hungary, the Guard was disbanded last month and the banning order upheld by an appeals court. Many widely respected Hungarians are now calling for the disbanding of Jobbik, which formed the Hungarian Guard in 2007, as a threat to the rule of law.
Perhaps the most influential among them is Peter Barandy, an eminent criminologist and former Liberal minister of justice. In an interview published by the daily Nepszabadsa newspaper, Barandy argues in favor of banning the party in defense of the fledgling Hungarian democratic system.
