Budapest – Hungarian Lawmaker Quits After Leak Of Anti-Semitic Comments

Budapest – A lawmaker with Hungary’s nationalistic Jobbik party says he is resigning his seat in parliament after the leak of a recording on which he could be heard making anti-Semitic comments.

Istvan Szavay of the Jobbik party has denied hitting or hurting a Jewish woman, saying his boasts about it heard on the recording reportedly made in May were “shameful and humiliating jokes.”

Szavay said Monday he was resigning to avoid hindering Jobbik’s efforts to defeat Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party.

Several other Jobbik lawmakers and politicians have made statements considered anti-Semitic since the party entered Parliament in 2010, but in recent years Jobbik has made efforts to tone down its far-right rhetoric to expand its voter base.