Absolut unakzeptabel sind die Äußerungen des in Ungarn bereits einschlägig bekannten Journalisten Zsolt Bayer, Gründungmitglied der amtierenden Regierungspartei Fidesz. Gemeinsam mit den Europaabgeordneten Renate Weber, Ioan Enciu und Claude Moraes der sozialdemokratischen Fraktion schaltet Joe Weidenholzer nun mittels einer parlamentarischen Anfrage die EU-Kommission ein.

Gefragt wird, inwiefern derartige Aussagen in Bezug auf die fundamentalen Grundrechte der EU zu werten sind und „welche Maßnahmen die Kommission ergreift“. Bayer hat Anfang Jänner geschrieben, „die meisten Roma“ seien „Tiere“, viele Roma seien „Mörder“. Die meisten Roma seien „nicht zum Zusammenleben“ geeignet und sollten „nicht existieren“.

Anfrage
In an article published on the 5th of January 2013 in the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Hírlap, Mr Zsolt Bayer, a public figure and founding member of the Fidesz Party made some brutally racist remarks towards the Roma people who were qualified as murderers, „animals“, „incapable of human communication“ or „unfit for coexistence“. Moreover, Mr Bayer stated, with regard to Roma that „their animal skulls emit inarticulate sounds, and all they understand of this miserable world of theirs is violence“, while criticizing „the politically correct Western world“ for asking for tolerance and understanding towards Roma. Mr Bayer concluded his article by saying that „those animals must not exist. In any sense. This is what has to be solved immediately and by any means!“ These outrageous remarks of Mr Bayer sparked other negative comments in the Hungarian public space, as leaders of the far-right Jobbik party asked for the establishment of a special „gypsy crime“ unit of law enforcement authorities.
The comments of Mr Bayer as public figure and founding member of Hungary’s governing party are, in our view, shocking, extremely racist and thus, unacceptable. They instigate hatred, violence and social stigmatization against Roma. Furthermore, these remarks are a blunt statement against the European values of human dignity, tolerance and mutual understanding which are the cornerstones of the EU strategy for Roma.
What view does the Commission take regarding the public remarks of the member of governing party of Hungary in terms of respect for fundamental rights, especially the right of human dignity and the principle of non-discrimination?
What measures does the Commission intend to take in response to these racist and violent remarks?