People wearing the uniforms of the outlawed paramilitary Hungarian Guard prevented several Roma residents of Hajduhadhaz (NE) from entering a rally by radical nationalist party Jobbik in the town on Sunday, the head of the local Roma civil organisation told MTI. About ten Roma wanted to go to the rally, where Jobbik's MEP Csanad Szegedi and other local party representatives were to speak, said Zsolt Bator Lakatos. The representatives of the local Roma organisation wanted to ask at the rally what ideas the party had for such a town in which a large number of residents are Roma, he added. The men dressed in Hungarian Guard uniforms stood in their way and told them it was written on the rally posters that the event was closed and "Gypsies can't come", Lakatos said. When the representatives of the Roma organisation tried to get into a Jobbik rally in nearby Hajduboszormeny later, they were not allowed in either, he added. The local elections office will be informed of the matter, Lakatos said. Jobbik said in a statement sent to MTI on Sunday that "Gypsies had participated" at the open-air event in Hajduhadhaz and "members of the New Hungarian Guard Movement only stood around the speakers". The statement said 10-15 "guard members wore the new, legal uniforms". Several police officers in uniform were present in the crowd, it added.
politics
