BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Thousands attended an anti-Nazi rally Sunday in Hungary organized by Jewish and civic groups to protest a far-right lawmaker's call to screen Jews for national security risks.
The rally was unusual because politicians from both the government and opposition parties shared a stage outside parliament.
Marton Gyongyosi of the far-right Jobbik party said Monday in the legislature it was time "to assess ... how many people of Jewish origin there are here, and especially in the Hungarian parliament and the Hungarian government, who represent a certain national security risk."
Gyongyosi later apologized to "our Jewish compatriots" for his statement, but added that Hungary needed to be wary of "Zionist Israel and those serving it also from here."
Some 550,000 Hungarian Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Hungary's Jewish population is now estimated at 100,000.
Antal Rogan, parliamentary faction leader of the governing Fidesz party, addressed the crowd, which Hungarian media estimated at over 10,000 people.
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