Mikey read an article I wrote for the spring issue of Dissent about the Magyar Garda (Hungarian Guard), a new Hungarian far-right group and asked me to post something on the subject. The Garda is the new face of extremism: very image conscious, well advised legally and extremely internet savvy. The Garda avoids open anti-Semitism, indeed even denies it is anti-Semitic, but focuses on anti-Roma sentiment, a fertile ground in a region where hatred of Roma is open and widespread. It’s trying to build links with the BNP, as its parent party’s website shows. The government is trying to ban the Garda on the ground of incitement to racial hatred. I don’t think they will succeed. After fifty years of dictatorship there is a real reluctance in this country to restrict freedom of speech, no matter how unpleasant the views being expressed.
You can read the article here, it’s long – 3,500 words.