Sixth Roma, Maria Balogh, Killed In Hungarian Racial Violence

A sixth victim was found murdered in what is believed to be a spate of attacks on members of Hungary's large Roma community, BBC reports.

The woman, Maria Balogh, was killed in her own home, and her 13-year-old daughter, Ketrin, was shot at multiple times. Ketrin is currently recovering in intensive care.

From the BBC:

Police are treating the attack as the work of a group believed responsible for several murders in the past year. In April, a Roma man was shot dead in front of his home in north-eastern Hungary, two months after a Roma father and his five-year-old son were killed in front of their home south of Budapest, which was then set on fire. Those deaths followed the murder of a Roma couple in north-eastern Hungary last November.

Earlier this week, police also had to increase their presence in a village near Budapest after a fight broke out between skinheads and locals, Budapest Times reports.

Some youth wearing "White Hungary" t-shirts were reported to have beaten up a young Roma boy and a pregnant woman in the village.

Another 49 people have been injured in attacks since last July on the outskirts of small villages across the country.

Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai did not attend Balogh's funeral but issued a statement condemning the perpetrators' actions.

"To drive back extremism, to hold society together and to improve on the condition of Gypsies is not simply a government task," Bajnai said. "It is also a national responsibility."

The reward for any information leading to the murderers capture was increased to 100 million forints (530,000 dollars).

The Romas are one of the poorest and least educated communities in Hungary.

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Comments

[norepublicanleftbehind]

Deeply saddend. We have no representation here in this country. Years ago The NYT published a list of the most mistrusted minorities and Roma were listed last just below the group the writer made up.

[redjade]

Hello all, I live in Hungary. This is a very sad situation.
The following is a photo series from the vigil in Budapest Hungary on August 7, 2009 for Mária Balogh, the Hungarian Roma/gypsy woman recently murdered at Kisléta. During the two hours a couple hundred had arrived to pay their respects to her memory and family and consider the meaning of her death for the times we live in.... http://lmv.hu/node/4230

[arvay]

This reminds me of the dialog we've had in the US over racism and crime in the black community.

After slavery and brutal segregation and discrimination we see -- what a surprise! -- high crime rates among those who have been brutalized and robbed of opportunity.

The answer is neither racial stereotyping nor political correctness that ignores the situation. And we're making progress here, not enough, but we're moving in the right direction.

While the historical situation of the Roma is different that the African American experience, there needs to be a sincere and effective program to integrate them into the surrounding societies. Yes, this means disrupting some of their culture, which sees itself as adversarial. But the mainstream societies will also need to adjust and see the Roma as fellow citizens.

A common educational system mandated and enforced is essential.

Real integration will upset both Roma "traditionalists" who want to remain separate and the majority who will feel threatened by "those others." But it's necessary to avoid needless bloodshed and violence. The hope will rest with the young and better-educated.

I'm not an expert on Hungary, but I think the last thing the country needs in these difficult times is a race war, which certainly will not fix the country's economic problems.

[LMPE]

There needs to be worldwide laws against this.

Oh, right. People like James Von Brunn cite international law as an example of "one-worldism".

I'd rather have one-worldism than let racists attack minorities.

[ModernTimes1]

This is the fate of many other minorities without their own land and /or state.

[militantlibrarian]

In Anthro 101 the professor told us, the oldest conflict in human history is that between the nomads and the settled folk.

[redjade]

the Roma are not nomads.

or rather, they are no more nomadic than most people. ever move to another city to get work? Are you 'nomadic'?

[Agentlady007]

These people have gaul. Let's start an investigation. Pronto.

[pannonius]

Someone asked if there are people like Rush or Glen Back in Hungary who would fan the flames of prejudice. Not exactly.
Instead they have organizations with hundreds of thousands of members who openly incite hatred against GYPSIES and JEWS - denying them the right to belong to the Nation as "non-Hungarians".
The largest is a Political Party called "JOBBIK" that currently enjoys 3rd place in popularity, and over half of the Hungarian population sympathize with their message. Gabor Vona - Jobbik leader - also created a paramilitary wing for his Party the "HUNGARIAN GUARD" (or Magyar Garda), who wear uniforms they say is reminiscent of traditional peasant garb, yet their shiny boots and hat and armband recall memories of the "Arrow Cross", Hungary's answer to Hitler's Brown Shirts.
The alarming thing is that Jobbik's Part members are not simply troubled young men. No they are Middle Class people, average and "upright" citizens of the Hungarian Republic and think JEWS, GYPSIES and GAYS are not "real" Hungarians, that they should be segregated, silenced and if at all possible get rid of al together for the "Good of their Country". JOBBIK came in 3rd at 15% in the recent EU Elections, just a few percent less than the ruling Socialist Party. There are many many other organizations and paramilitary groups with similar or even more extreme political goals and messages that enjoy wide support in Hungarian society.
DOES IT SOUND FAMILIAR? Think 1930's Germany.

David Balazs Beleznay

[pannonius]

Someone asked if there are people like Rush or Glen Back in Hungary who would fan the flames of prejudice. Not exactly.
Instead they have organizations with hundreds of thousands of members who openly incite hatred against GYPSIES and JEWS - denying them the right to belong to the Nation as "non-Hungarians".
The largest is a Political Party called "JOBBIK" that currently enjoys 3rd place in popularity, and over half of the Hungarian population sympathize with their message. Gabor Vona - Jobbik leader - also created a paramilitary wing for his Party the "HUNGARIAN GUARD" (or Magyar Garda), who wear uniforms they say is reminiscent of traditional peasant garb, yet their shiny boots and hat and armband recall memories of the "Arrow Cross", Hungary's answer to Hitler's Brown Shirts.
The alarming thing is that Jobbik's Part members are not simply troubled young men. No they are Middle Class people, average and "upright" citizens of the Hungarian Republic and think JEWS, GYPSIES and GAYS are not "real" Hungarians, that they should be segregated, silenced and if at all possible get rid of al together for the "Good of their Country". JOBBIK came in 3rd at 15% in the recent EU Elections, just a few percent less than the ruling Socialist Party. There are many many other organizations and paramilitary groups with similar or even more extreme political goals and messages that enjoy wide support in Hungarian society.

DOES IT SOUND FAMILIAR? Think 1930's Germany.

[GZLives]

Roma under attack in Czech Republic

"OTTAWA — Incidents of members of the Roma minority in the Czech Republic being firebombed, turned away from restaurants and refused housing by landlords are contained in a fact-finding report released in Ottawa Monday.

The report by the Immigration and Refugee Board also noted that in May, the Czech government was considering a ban on two extremist political parties after the broadcast of a National Party video on Czech television which called for "the final solution" to the Roma "question.­"

http://news.globaltv.com/canada/Czech+Roma+persecuted+Canadian+government+study/1833873/story.html

The report was released two weeks after the Canadian government re-imposed a visa requirement on Czech citizens to reduce the flow of Roma — once known as gypsies — claiming refugee status in Canada. It was the second of two reports from the March 23-31 fact-finding mission."

[Khirad]

Sickening. I wish I had something more penetrating and poignant than that...

I hesitate, as this may be a very ignorant statement, but I do find a few backward dregs (the racists) of a proud nation with a link to Atilla the Hun attacking those whom aren't racially pure or 'white' as slightly Ironic. Both have ancestors who traveled over a continent to get there.

[PennLawyer]

Gypsies were among the first targets of Hitler and sent to the first concentration camp, Sachsenhausen a year or two before the first Jewish prisoners. They'ne remained marginalized outcasts of Europe. Their extreme poverty (exacerbated by huge families-status is based on how many kids/grandchildren) led to a centuries old tradition of grifting, begging and petty crime.
EU membership in 2007 allowed Romanians visa-free travel. A result I saw was a Roma gypsy "encampment" of 100 men, women and children on the M50 roundabout on the Dublin outskirts. It was a squalid, fly-infested quagmire, according to local press. Seduced by tales of easy wealth, many funded the Dublin trip by selling the family horse - used for transport and field work, and whose offspring they sold for vital cash - to travel by bus and plane to Budapest and Dublin.
The Irish government stated Romanian gangs pressured Roma to send back a large percentage of Irish social welfare payments to the gang. But Roma were entitled to stay no more than 3 months unless they were employed, self-employed, students or had sufficient resources to support themselves and pay for health insurance cover.
"Self-employment" became aggressive begging on Dublin streets, angering many Dubliners and embarassing the Romanian Embassy in Dublin and non-Gypsy Romanians living in Ireland. Romania struggled mightily to meet EU membership requirements. Aggressive public begging is not the image they wish to project to the more affluent EU members.

[Caliwoman]

Roma are not from Romania. They are a nomadic ethnic group found throughout Europe. They have survived in most nations of Europe and Eastern Europe for hundreds of years. Recent migrations, yes. But the Roma have been in Hungary as long as in Romania.

[Aron Cohen]

They are originally from the Indian subcontinent.

[Balzac]

Who ever did this should be thoroughly examined before a life sentence or even a death penalty. What rhetoric were they reading? Did any local television, radio, or print media political pundits incite this?

Does Hungary have a Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck? Are we going to wait until Limbaugh or Beck incite murder here? Will we hold them responsible if they do incite murder?

This is why Austria doesn't allow Nazis to march. They want no trouble from Nazis again, so they are not liberal about protecting "free speech" when it's actually a call to organized aggression against a specific ethnic group. Incitement is not protected speech.

[who38]

Good to know. I will put Austria on my "to visit" list.

[KMan1]

These murders are so cold even the young aren't safe. This shouldn't be allowed to happen there or anywhere.

[20thcenturykid]

There is no there is no evidence that it was done by the radical right. Question: who benefits? It's obvious. This done by the losing born-again communist, now desperate, at the direction of their isra-eli masters staging provocations to incite hatred and misrule as preparation for the elections.­.. There is no White Hungary t-shirt in existence anywhere, that has been made up by Ami Cholia, "the impartial" reporter..­. Bajnai is the parvenu, who enjoys singing the communist hymn, the Internatio­nale... do we need to say more??

[Femfelis]

The reports of these Roma deaths sadden me, but I'm not terribly surprised by them.

My late husband and I went to Budapest in '99. While there, I made the mistake of speaking out--in a courteous way--for the Roma to a staff member of the hotel. I thought he was going to punch me out!

Racial intolerance is ugly, no matter where and how it rears its horrible head. Ignorance lies at its black heart.

It seems such a shame that the Magyar people, who have such an interesting (if often troubled) history, should so thoroughly hate the Roma. There is much to admire in both groups. What a pity that the only bridge between them now seems to be violence and death!