Hungarian party to continue using controversial flag

The head of the far-right party Jobbik said he sees no reason to stop using the Árpád flags associated with Hungary's wartime fascist regime, despite a call to desist from President László Sólyom lest they offend survivors of the Holocaust. Vona also heads the recently formed Magyar Gárda.

Vona said it is possible that the flag elicits fear or bad feelings in some people, but added that responsibility rests with those who are pursuing a campaign of hysteria.

Fidesz MP Mária Wittner, who attended the inauguration of Magyar Gárda members near Sólyom's office, said she was astonished that Sólyom did not distinguish the Árpád flag from the symbols used by the fascist Arrow Cross. She added that she could not determine who is offending whose sensibilities, but said she has bad memories about the red star and T-shirts portraying Che Guevara.

The real tragedy, she said, is that "former Communist Youth League leaders are running the country," and are "building globalisation rather than communism, but there is no great difference, as the same hand controls both."

The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.

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