Hungarian right-wing extremist Istvan Csurka and four of his followers have been expelled from the ruling Hungarian Democratic Forum’s parliamentary faction.
However, a proposal to expel the anti-Semitic Csurka from the party altogether was postponed by a decision taken over the weekend by the party’s leadership.
Csurka’s eventual fate in the party is being put before the party’s “ethical committee.”
Prime Minister Jozsef Antall appears determined to expel Csurka from the party, but prefers that the problem be seen as a moral or ethical issue, not as a political question.
Dr. Jozsef Schweitzer, leader of the Budapest Rabbinical Seminary, has said it would be good news for Hungarian Jewry if Csurka were expelled from his party.
Some Jewish leaders fear that Csurka’s expulsion might make him into more of a hero among his followers and strengthen his support.
Csurka, whose anti-Semitic accusations have infuriated the Jewish community here and elsewhere, has blamed the nation’s woes on liberals, Jews, Western financiers and the media.
Csurka’s latest affront was the refusal to vote for approval of the Hungarian-Ukrainian treaty, in which both countries accept the borders between them as currently drawn.
The right-wing leader has said he promised to form his own political party if kicked out of the Democratic Forum. Last week, Csurka formed a group within the Democratic Forum, named Hungarian Justice.
Some groups have expressed concern that racism is growing in Hungary. The Hungarian Wallenberg Society claims that some schoolbooks have falsified aspects of the Holocaust, particularly as relates to the fate of Hungary’s Jews.
The leading opposition party leader has questioned the Democratic Forum’s handling of Csurka, asking whether the ruling party wishes to get rid of just the man or his ideas as well.
The Democratic Forum, along with kicking Csurka and his followers out of the parliamentary faction, also expelled two liberal legislators.
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