Yahoo Finance Conservatives condemned by Jewish leaders for ‘defending Orban’
The Conservative party has been criticised by Jewish community leaders after its members of the European Parliament tried to block action against Hungary’s far-right government.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews has expressed its “disappointment” with the decision to vote against the triggering of the EU’s Article 7 sanctions process on Wednesday.
Its president, Marie van der Zyl, rebuked the Conservatives for acting “in defence” of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, who she said had used “vivid anti-semitism” and racist attacks on other minorities and migrants as part of his recent re-election campaign.
MORE: Conservatives accused of ‘propping up’ Orban after opposing EU sanctions on Hungary
“This whipping up of prejudice by the Hungarian government – alongside restrictions on press freedom and the independence of the judiciary – must be stopped before it undermines Hungary’s democracy irreversibly,” she said in a statement released Thursday.
“It is very concerning that the Conservative Party MEPs chose to defend Hungary’s appalling track record, rather than supporting this motion to protect the rule of law.”
MEPs voted by 448 to 197 on Wednesday for disciplinary action against the Hungarian government, agreeing it presented “clear risk of a serious breach of the EU founding values.”
The motion detailed Orban’s government has repeatedly flouted EU rules with attacks on minorities, migrants, the media and judicial independence.
All but three of the Conservative’s 19 MEPs voted against censuring Orban over his attacks on media freedom, minority groups, migrants, political opponents and judicial independence.
That put them on the same side as UKIP, as well as major international far-right parties like the National Front in France and the Northern League in Italy.
MEPs claimed the Conservative’s position on the vote was part of a bid to win backing from Orban over Brexit.
Richard Corbett, Labour’s leader in the European Parliament, said: “Theresa May and the Tories would do anything and make alliances with anyone, no matter how racist, if they think it will further their interests.”
MORE: Tory MEPs defy call to ‘stand up for democracy’ by opposing sanctions against Orban
Conservative MEP Dan Dalton insisted the group opposed the motion because MEPs were “politicising what should be a purely legal matter.”
Baroness Nosheena Mobarik was the only Conservative MEP to vote in favour of action, while Charles Tannock and Sajjad Karim abstained.
In a statement explaining why he voted differently to his colleagues, Karim said Orban because he had “actively promoted a campaign of Islamaphobia” and “singled out Jewish-Hungarian political activist George Soros in a xenophobic crusade.”
However, he argued he couldn’t vote for the motion because it “goes beyond the remit of the European Union by encroaching on the sovereignty of our member states unduly.”
