Sweeping gains by Hungary's neo-Nazi Jobbik party provoked concern across Europe yesterday after the anti-Semitic organisation won one in five votes in a general election which returned the maverick right-wing Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, to power.
Results showed that far-right Jobbik, which wants detention camps for Roma deviants and has argued that Jews are a national security risk, had upped its share of support by five per cent and had secured 20.86 per cent of the vote in Sunday's election.
The party's leader, Gabor Vona, said the result allowed Jobbik to claim the title of strongest national radical party in the EU, and Hungary's second largest political party.
However, its success at the polls caused alarm in much of Europe. Moshe Kantor, the president of the European Jewish Congress, described Jobbik as an unashamedly neo-Nazi party and said its electoral success should serve as a wake up call. This is a party that feeds on hate, he said.
Despite Jobbik's gains, Mr Vona said he and his supporters were disillusioned with the result.