Among the many reasons of concern about the political, economic and social crisis affecting the European Union’s civil society today, there is one that in our view has reached a critical level. We are very concerned about the re-establishment and re-legitimization of far-right parties in Eastern and Central Europe. We are also very concerned about the involvement of the far-right parties in present dynamics of society, about the participation of the far-right parties and fractions in the official decision-making processes of the political scene, along with the presence of the radical right-wing extremists within daily life under the protection of the authorities.

In the last years, there were many attacks and mobs against Roma people all over Europe; just to recall some of them, the mobs and pogroms against Roma in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Hungary from 2011 until today. Despite of the international critics and counter demonstrations, the far-right parties and fractions are still legal and their presence within public spaces is much stronger now than it was before. The legislation of the E.U. is not prepared to face this situation and unfortunately there is no interest from the side of political representatives to fight this volatile situation. Slowly but surely, the European Union turns into a ‘Europe of Nations’ in which minorities are neither respected nor protected.

There are declarations that officially dehumanize minorities: Zolt Bayer, a Hungarian official and a friend of Viktor Orban, declared at the beginning of this year: “Gypsies are animals”. The public opinion has a passive position that legitimates and empowers the far-right. Because of the lack of critics, the structure of the neo-nationalist parties and fractions has become stable and effective. Their strengthened mobs are now much more prepared and – with the support of media platforms that control and filter the information – less visible.

The far-right extremists are not just acting within the borders of their countries. The opening of the exhibition, “Thoughts are free – Anxiety is Reality for Roma in EUrope” by Marika Schmiedt, at the construction fence in Linz, Austria, on the 14th of April, 2013, triggered hatred and violence by an officially-certified tour guide from Austria Guides, Beate Hofstadler, and her Austrian husband. Before the opening, a collage was torn down and the artist was threatened, repeatedly insulted and her phone was torn out of her hands. After two days and three hours, the whole exhibition had vanished. The police had removed the artworks because a journalist had pressed charges and because of an evaluation by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which claimed: “these are racist images”. The name of the journalist is not specified in the statement of the police published in the newspaper Der Standard. We ask ourselves why? Based on this procedure, one of the most committed Roma artists in Europe was attacked and censured.

We consider this attack to be a brutal violation of the freedom of speech. The accusations made against an artist and activist in order to intimidate her, along with all the potential critics of the far-right in Hungary, represent a very dangerous form of political censorship.

Marika Schmiedt’s artworks are a direct critique of the situation that Roma people in Hungary are facing day by day. The decision made by the city of Linz to cancel the exhibition is illegal. Any kind of accusation of racism made against an artist who criticizes racism and discrimination is a contradiction in terms and cannot be sustained by laws. When an institution forbids the right to criticize nationalism and discrimination, then this institution affirms and protects the values of nationalism and supports discrimination.

We ask for immediate reparation and reconsideration of Marika Schmiedt as an artist and activist.

We ask for an immediate and official apology to Marika Schmiedt made by Beate Hofstadler, the city of Linz and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Austria.

We ask for immediate condemnation of the hate speech against Roma people in Hungary and all over the European Union.

We ask for immediate guarantee of the equal rights and protection of Roma people in Hungary and all over the European Union.

We ask for immediate and permanent condemnation of the far-right parties and fractions that promote racist ideologies and hierarchical ethnicization of civil society.

The far-right represents a danger for all the people and for the stability and freedom of civil society as a whole. There is one way to fight racism and xenophobia: to forbid them by law.

We ask civil society to stand up against the alarming rise of neo-nationalism in public life.

With kind regards,

Der Paria

With many thanks to Jasmina Tumbas for translation support!

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