HUNGARY:A leading Jewish organisation in Hungary has condemned a far-right party for forming a uniformed "civil defence" unit that uses symbols and slogans reminiscent of the country's wartime fascist regime.
Hungary's Socialist government and liberal parties have also lambasted the main right-wing opposition party, Fidesz, for failing to distance itself from the new group, amid repeated accusations that it courts extreme nationalists to boost its popularity.
Leaders of far-right party Jobbik, which is represented on several local councils around Hungary, said last week that the Magyar Garda - or Hungarian Guard - had already received some 300 applications for membership.
"Jobbik chairman Gabor Vona said we needed an organisation to carry out law enforcement and military duties," Hungarian Guard chairman Tamas Poszpischek told the Magyar Nemzet newspaper recently.
Deriding cutbacks to the Hungarian armed forces, Mr Poszpischek said: "It will be us civilians who will organise the protection of the nation. We will make maximum use of the opportunities provided by the law and attend training that make our organisation capable of carrying out law enforcement and military tasks, should the need arise."
The Hungarian Guard will wear black uniforms and rally beneath the so-called Arpad Flag, long associated with extreme nationalism in Hungary and waved by many people who took part in last year's fierce anti-government riots in Budapest.
The Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities said: "We trust they [ the government] will find a constitutional way to step up against the existence of this and similar groups and guarantee a peaceful existence for Hungarian Jews and every Hungarian resident."
The centre-right Hungarian Democratic Forum opposition party also denounced the guard, and its former member Lajos Fur, who reportedly plans to inaugurate the first members of the new group in Buda Castle this month.
"The aim of this movement, which openly defines itself as a militant organisation, is to terrify the silent majority," it said.
"The slogans and the mournful black uniform of the Hungarian Guard, and its aim to appear as a shadow army, can only instil fear in the peace-loving majority of the Hungarian society."
Fidesz, criticised last year for failing to disassociate itself from extreme nationalists who attended its anti-government protests, refused to condemn the guard, saying only that it defended the right to free association.