Ronald Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) said Sunday he was concerned about the increasing popularity of Hungary's extreme-right Jobbik party, particularly among young voters.
But while Jobbik is mostly shunned by its critics and opponents in Hungary, Lauder said dialogue was crucial."I believe ... that it's important to speak to them," Lauder said. "I believe it's important to speak to anybody who's willing to listen."
Lauder, who participated Sunday in this year’s ‘’March of the Living’’ in Budapest in commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust, said that it was hard for him, as head of the WJC, to meet with a group like Jobbik, because it could be misinterpreted as condoning their politics.
"But the fact is that we, the Jewish people, and also Christians and other faiths, have to meet together with anybody to talk about what can be done in the future," Lauder said.
Lauder, whose maternal grandparents were born in Hungary, said that many younger voters were turning to the party led by Gabor Vona not because of anti-Semitism but because "they're looking for an alternative. They're looking for something different."
Recent polls suggest Jobbik is the second most popular party behind Fidesz and lately has been steadily closing the gap.
Thousands of people gathered Sunday in front of the Dohany Street Synagogue in Budapest before the start of the March of the Living.
About 560,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, most of them in 1944. Today, Hungary’s Jewish community numbers around 100,000 and it is still the largest in Central Europe.
The ‘March of the Living is organized every year by the March of the Living Foundation, with the support of the MAZSIHISZ, the federation of Jewish communities in Hungary.
“The March of the Living also reminds us what happens when the world is silent,” said Lauder in his address to the thousands of participants. “We will never be silent again. And when it comes to anti-Semitism, the Hungarian government must never be silent.”
“Today, when the world looks at Hungary, it does not see its great culture. It does not see its beautiful cities. It does not remember its great and glorious past,” continued Lauder. “Today, the world sees Hungary and they see Jobbik. They see an extremist party that promotes hate.”
The WJC president also condemned acts of anti-Semitism. “There are statues of shoes along the Danube. They are there as a memorial to the Jewish people who were murdered there. No one has the right to spit in those shoes. No one. In this great city we send one clear message to the entire world: The Hungarian Jewish community is alive and well.
He added : “And the Hungarian Jewish community is not going anywhere. We march today to say: We are here. We are alive. And here we will remain.”