It did not take long for Mi Hazánk Mozgalom (Our Homeland Movement) to swing into action after entering parliament, with a motion opposing any increase in Holocaust reparations or „Roma subsidies.”
In a statement published last week on the Mi Hazánk Movement’s website, the party’s vice-president, Előd Novák, complained that Speaker László Kövér „rejected two taboo-breaking budget amendments proposed by Mi Hazánk, so that they cannot be discussed on the agenda.”
„While László Kövér is not bothered by the fact that DK proposed to withdraw HUF 20 billion from the Defense Fund during a war and HUF 10 billion from Hungarians abroad, he rejected the proposals against increasing Holocaust reparations and Roma aid among my 16 budget amendments.”
In his statement, Novák expresses surprise that the Hungarian State „still” pays compensation under the 1947 Paris Peace Treaties, „and even increased it in the bill, after Mazsihisz launched a support program for the second generation of Holocaust survivors three years ago.”
Novák’s incomplete knowledge of history does not cover the fact that, although numerous laws and decrees on compensation have been passed since 1965, actual financial payments did not begin until more than 50 years after the Holocaust.
According to Novák, who used to be a member of MIÉP (The Hungarian Justice and Life Party ) and later Jobbik,
„Enough of endless Holocaust reparations! Since the investigation of Holocaust numbers is absurdly prohibited by the Criminal Code, it is not fair to make it part of the budget law.”
The vice-president of Mi Hazánk, who is known for his antisemitic and anti-Gypsy rhetoric, also criticised the payment of subsidies to help the Roma catch up. In a statement, Novák said:
„All funding for Roma programs must be stopped. Over the past decades, the Hungarian state has spent hundreds of billions of forints on various programs to help the Roma people catch up, but to no avail. The consequences of Hungary’s demographic crisis are even more serious if an increasing number of children are born and grow up in a social group where unemployment, crime, and relying on welfare have been rampant for decades.”
