Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács protested against the playing of the anti-Semitism card in a brief letter to the editor published in the newspaper The Globe and Mail after the Canadian newspaper wrote in an article on 1 June that Hungary’s non-Christian minorities appear to be at risk.
The author of the article, Erna Paris asked the question whether the Jews of Hungary should pack their bags and leave the country. In her view, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán marginalised the Jews of Hungary without naming them, and might have lifted the familiar anti-Semitic tropes he uses in his speeches from any number of German sources from the late 18th century to before 1945.
Erna Paris made mention of Fidesz’s highly successful election campaign which focused on demonising and targeting George Soros.
In a letter to the editor of the Canadian newspaper, the government spokesperson highlighted Mr Orbán’s governments decided on the establishment of a Holocaust Museum and Day of Remembrance, promulgated Hungary’s new constitution, recognising Hungarian Jewry as an inseparable part of the nation, passed strict laws to punish Holocaust denial, hate speech and the display of hate symbols, and established a zero-tolerance policy on anti-Semitism.
“Please stop playing the anti-Semitism card. Tired and cynical, it’s an insult to many”, the government spokesperson wrote.