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A Hungarian MP attending a party gathering (of the extremist Hungarian Our Homeland Movement) in Sfantu Gheorghe, Romania, has threatened “to hang” the Magyar journalist Parászka Boróka from Radio Romania Actualitati Târgu Mureș. The extremist deputy Barna Bartha, said, according to a discussion recorded by one of the journalists present at the meeting, that “we are witnessing the gypsyization of Szeklerland and the Hungarian people”.
The Romanian Broadcasting Society (SRR) considers the comments “as a serious attack against the basic norms of democracy, the rule of law”.
Barna Bartha, deputy of the extremist Our Homeland Movement “called our colleague wicked and said that such people should be hanged and removed from the Hungarian community”, Radio Romania Târgu Mureș reports.
“In the news feed of the Romanian Broadcasting Society and in the public space, the news appeared that tells about an unauthorized slip of the tongue of a Hungarian politician in Romania. A Hungarian journalist of Radio Romania and two other ethnic groups were threatened in the speech of an extremist politician from Hungary. In his message, he says: «…you can see Parászka Boróka, you can hear her on Radio Târgu-Mureș. Well, if the Hungarians are not able to hang such people, to eliminate them from among themselves, let’s not be surprised that we have reached where we are».
The assessments were made during a meeting organized in Sfântu Gheorghe, where the Hungarian politician was present. An audio recording broadcast by a journalist present at the meeting in Sfântu Gheorghe proves the fact that, in addition to xenophobic assessments of the Roma and the Jewish community, the name of the Hungarian journalist, employed by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company, is also mentioned.
The Romanian Broadcasting Society considers the comments mentioned above as a serious attack against the basic norms of democracy, the rule of law, statements calling for racial purity being unacceptable in a democratic and tolerant Romania.
The Romanian Broadcasting Society strongly condemns in these difficult times any extremist and manipulative behavior that propagates and incites violence and expresses its disagreement with this type of approach. Fighting for equidistance, impartiality and correct information, in accordance with its public mission, in the spirit of defending journalistic ethics and freedom, as well as as a credible and relevant source of news, the Romanian Broadcasting Society wishes to firmly condemn and discourage biased attitudes and extremists and continues to be part of the camp for the defense of the truth and the values described in the Romanian Constitution”, says a statement signed by Răzvan Ioan Dincă, president general director of the Romanian Broadcasting Society.
Barna Bartha is the head of the national policy office of the Our Homeland Movement parliamentary party (Mi Hazánk Mozgalom, MHM in Hungarian).
Contacted by the Hungarian publication Telex.hu, the political formation replied that it does not consider what was said to be a criminal offense and that the party does not assume any responsibility if Boroka Parászka or any other journalist is assaulted, but that it will investigate the case.
According to Telex, the party was presented to Sfântu Gheorghe de Barna Bartha, István Szabadi, a television journalist turned party leader and currently a member of parliament in Hungary, and László Kovács Nemes, a former member of the banned Hungarian Guard, who lives in Odorheiu, Tîrgu Mureș.
Apart from the three politicians, there were a total of six people at a restricted but public discussion in the meeting room of the local Unitarian church. At one point, there was talk of the “gypsy-nation” of the Szekler and Hungarian peoples, because in many places the Roma are the richest, and therefore young Hungarians are already imitating them, using their tone of voice and words.”
Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă condemned the threats against public radio journalist Parászka Boróka and called for the protection of journalists and the prosecution of those responsible.
“I publicly condemn the threats made to the Public Radio journalist – Redacția Târgu-Mureș, which I qualify as unacceptable, representing a serious attack on democratic values,” said Ciucă, according to a press release. “Free expression of journalists is a basic condition of the rule of law and a fundamental value in any democracy. I request the competent institutions of the state to exercise their legal powers to protect journalists and hold accountable those responsible for propagating speech that incites hatred and discrimination,” he added.
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