Hungary: Far-right groups promote 'ethnic self-defense'

VECSES, Hungary – Three small, far-right groups in Hungary formed an alliance Saturday to fight liberalism, which they say has made Europe "unlivable and indefensible."

About 300 supporters attended an inaugural event of Force and Determination. Organizers said they represent "the white European man" and want to spread the idea of "ethnic self-defense" in the face of immigration and Hungary's growing Roma community.

Gathered in the town of Vecses on the outskirts of Budapest, speakers at the event said they wanted to build a "new right-wing" and fight against political correctness. The meeting was held near a statue commemorating a Hungarian victory in 907 against the Franks near what now is Bratislava, Slovakia,

"We have to declare war against the force which represents Satanic darkness and which has made Europe unlivable and indefensible," said Zsolt Tyirityan, leader of the Outlaw Army, one of the groups in the new alliance. "This is called liberalism. It makes people lose their awareness of nation, their racial identity and, slowly, their sexual identity, too."

"I am proud to belong to the white European race," Tyirityan said. He said "Third World races" trying to take over Hungary need to be confronted and sent "to the garbage dump of history."

Speakers also criticized the Budapest Pride march, which also took place Saturday. Police prevented a group of around 80 extremists from upsetting the event, which was held on an alternate route without the protection of metallic barriers set up by police.

"We want a new right-wing, a new political character," said Balazs Laszlo, president of Identitesz, another member of the new union. "We don't want to muse about the past — there is only forward. We must believe that even for us there is an empty page in the history book."

While the alliance seems marginal for now, efforts by the Jobbik party, Hungary's largest far-right group, to attract more moderate voters could leave room for the growth of extremist groups like Force and Determination.

Hungary's left is greatly fragmented, and for now Jobbik, led by Gabor Vona, is considered the strongest challenger to Prime Minister Viktor Orban of the right-wing populist Fidesz party, who will seek his third consecutive four-year term next April. Orban's anti-migrant policies, however, have also won him support on the far-right.