A recent cooperation deal between TMRSZ, a radical organisation within Hungary’s police, and the radical nationalist Jobbik party could compromise the operation of the national police force, the head of the Independent Police Trade Union (FRSZ) said on Tuesday.
TMRSZ is a strong outfit within the police, with almost 5,000 members, and has tied itself to the extreme right, thus jeopardising the operation of the police, Geza Pongo said at a press conference.
The issue should be escalated to national security forums, he said.
How will a policeman fight against the Hungarian Guard (the paramilitary arm of Jobbik), if he is on the same platform with them, Pongo asked.
The trade union chief also noted that although policemen were forbidden to join political parties, the general secretary of TMRSZ was a Jobbik candidate for the European Parliament.
Hungary’s police should keep a distance from politics at every level and not even appear to plan close cooperation with any political groups, Janos Lazar, deputy of the main opposition Fidesz party, said in a statement. Lazar noted that the constitution strictly forbade party politics to directly influence public authority.
On Monday, Justice Minister Tibor Draskovics initiated an investigation to ascertain that the political independence of the police was not violated by the Jobbik-TMRSZ accord. “It is justly worrying if a political party – well-known for its extremist ideology – makes a cooperation deal with a trade union of the police,” the Justice Ministry said in a statement.
On May 12, a liberal Free Democrats deputy called for a parliamentary investigation concerning TMRSZ. As an illustration to TMRSZ activities, Jozsef Gulyas quoted from a publication of the group, which said that “Jews are trying to trigger a civil war between Roma and non-Roma in the country.”
The above BT quote could serve as answer to the pre-exam prayers of political science examinees expecting to be asked to identify the sub-texts of declarations: Sub-text here fair squirts one in the eye. To pick just one: ‘How will a policeman fight against the Hungarian Guard (the paramilitary arm of Jobbik), if he is on the same platform with them, Pongo asked.’ (Cannot BT journalists use question marks?) So it is expected that the police will fight the Garda, and problem arises only inasmuch as the TMRSZ might not feel like it. But on whose behest will the police fight the Garda? And what form might that fight take, since the Garda is not a fighter outfit: assault, attack — on givernment order? But that would be very political indeed. Wherein, then, lies the political independence of the police that Draskovics is so concerned about? Surely a judge cannot but laugh Draskovics’s action out of court!