Thousands set to gather in Budapest after János Lázár’s remarks captured on video
Thousands of people are set to gather in Budapest to demand the resignation of a senior Hungarian politician, for making a racist remark against Roma people earlier this month.
János Lázár told attendees at a political forum that migration was not the solution to the country’s labour shortage. “Since there are no migrants, and someone has to clean the bathrooms on the InterCity trains,” Lázár said Roma people would do the job, using an offensive slur in his speech.
The remarks, captured on video, quickly spread online and triggered a widespread backlash. Hungarian Roma organisations, NGOs and opposition politicians demanded that Lázár, a high-ranking ally of the rightwing populist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, apologise and resign. “He has crossed all boundaries,” said Péter Magyar, the leader of the largest opposition party, Tisza.
The scandal comes 10 weeks before an election that could cement or break the rule of Orbán’s Fidesz party, which came to power for the second time in 2010.
