Political responsibility for Gyongyospata tension must be established, says Fidesz

Mate Kocsis told a press conference that the body should establish the facts regarding the transport of hundreds of Roma out of the village during a paramilitary training exercise organised by radical nationalists. 

    He said answers must be found to "where the lies about an evacuation came from", how panic was created and who financed the radicals engaging in unauthorised law-enforcement activities.

    Tensions have been riding high since the town gave site to a paramilitary training camp organised near the Roma neighbourhood over the Easter holidays. Nearly 300 Roma women and children were bused out of the village for the duration of the training. 

    According to press reports, the Roma had been "evacuated" by the Red Cross, which the organisation promptly denied.

    Erik Selymes, managing director of the Hungarian Red Cross, said in a press statement released last Friday that "taking mothers and children of Gyongyospata on a pre-planned camping trip cannot be interpreted as an evacuation; I deny these press rumours."

    Hungarian-US businessman Richard Field, a Red Cross volunteer, told MTI on Friday, the day the Roma were bused out of the village, that "I have felt the Roma are afraid and they have reasons to be. [Militiamen] terrorised them throughout the night, knocked at their doors and pelted stones at their windows." 

    Kocsis said that it is also to be established what were the interests behind the opposition parties "harmonised efforts" and what political responsibility they carried in "ravaging the country". Political responsibility must be established, Kocsis said.

    He added that it is now clear the radical nationalist Jobbik party had "ended up with egg on its face regarding its assumed role of keeping order". Green opposition party Politics Can Be Different (LMP) also "looked foolish" when one of its sponsors, Richard Field, by getting involved in Gyongyospata. The "vague circumstances" of the latter would be examined, he added. He said former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany "has made a fool of himself by offering a donation for the evacuation" of the local Roma community.

    The committee is expected to be set up in mid-May.

    Late on Tuesday, four people were injured, one seriously, when a group of radical nationalists clashed with local Roma in the village. Police had detained seven people by Wednesday afternoon in connection with the fight and the police presence was enhanced in the area.