László Bíró became Jobbik’s candidate in the Szerencs pre-election

Bíró has already once been beaten as an opposition joint candidate and is now implicated in cases of possible corruption.

Once again, László Bíró will run for Jobbik in the Szerencs regional constituency number 6 of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County. The news was announced by Péter Jakab, the party’s president and prime ministerial candidate, on his Facebook page, according to Mandiner

In the autumn of 2020, László Bíró ran as a joint candidate for the opposition in the interim parliamentary election in Szerencs, which had to be called due to the death of Ferenc Koncz. He ended up 1,700 votes behind Fidesz’ Zsófia. 

Biró’s history of scandals may have contributed greatly to his defeat. Neokohn has also reported on his past racist and antisemitic remarks,

including when he called the capital of Budapest “Judapest” and commented on Israeli tourists by saying „My dog goes crazy when those with the lice-infested ‘sideburns’ pass by the house.” 

The party of Jobbik itself has a history of blatant antisemitic statements and actions, including a member spitting on a Holocaust memorial along the Danube River in Budapest and another asking for Members of Parliament of Jewish origin to be listed because they may pose a national security threat. 

Even after his election defeat, the Jobbik candidate’s scandals did not end, Mandiner notes. Following the election, Ákos Hadházy revealed information that László Bíró could be involved in corruption cases, and NAV (Hungary’s national tax authority) has launched an investigation into the matter. 

Hadházy, an independent member of parliament, presumably reported the corruption to the leaders of the opposition parties before the election last fall, but they did nothing about it — something the left-wing parties then denied in a joint statement, claiming Hadházy had not approached them with any such concerns. 

Magyar Nemzet further reported last year that the independent MP filed a complaint against László Biró at the NAV Borsod County Directorate for the use of a false private document and budget fraud.

The new epidemic: Influencers’ antisemitism – Neokohn