Combating the Threat from the Far Right in Europe

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Conference
2007 National LGBT Conference
Date
6 November 2007
Decision
Carried

Conference notes with increasing concern:

1.the continued threat posed by the BNP and other parties of the far right in Britain and in other EU countries;

2.evidence of the link between success at local level of far right/fascist parties and an increase in racist, xenophobic, homophobic attacks;

3.the explicitly anti-LGBT nature of these groupings in addition to them being racist, Islamaphobic and xenophobic and being implacable opponents of equality for women;

4.evidence of far right political parties being aligned with or directly involved in attacks on the freedom of assembly at recent Pride events in Central and Eastern Europe.

In this context, Conference is alarmed by news reported by Pink News and Budapest Times (26th August, 2007) that a far right Hungarian political party known as “Jobbik” which has a reputation of espousing anti-Semitic, anti-Roma and homophobic rhetoric, is seeking to establish a uniformed organisation, known as the “Magyar Guard”, with its members taking an oath to “defend Hungary physically, morally and spiritually”.

Conference notes that Jobbik supporters were reported to be amongst those actively involved in acts of violence and intimidation at this year’s Budapest Pride.

Conference welcomes the fact that the organisation has been condemned by the Prime Minister of Hungary but notes with concern that the Jobbik party has links with other centre right parties with Hungary and that the leading Centre right party had refused to condemn this grouping.

Conference calls on all of us to be vigilant with regard to the threat of the far right in all its forms and especially of the fact that such groups often seek to cloak their rhetoric in more respectable forms such as the defence of national traditions.

In view of these dangers Conference calls on the National LGBT Committee to seek to work with the NEC for the following:

continued support for Unite Against Fascism;

work with contacts in UNISON Labour Link, LGBT Labour, Rainbow Rose (European network of European Socialists and Social Democrats) and the Party of European Socialists (PES) to raise awareness of these dangers at all levels within the EU;

action by the European Union to alert member states and political groupings to the unacceptability of such parties participating in government at any level;

vigilance to ensure robust action is taken at any attempt to intimidate particular groups of people (including LGBT people) from organising and having the freedom of peaceful assembly and any evidence of increased physical attacks on Pride event participants;

Continue to work through ILGA to demonstrate support and solidarity with LGBT communities organising under the threat of the far right.