On Monday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó had a lengthy meeting in Lithuania with Remigijus Žemaitaitis, the leader of the radical right-wing populist party Dawn of Nemunas, notorious for his regular anti-Semitic outbursts.
"Lithuanian politicians rarely make positive statements about Hungary, as we have a completely different view of the war in Ukraine than the Lithuanian government," Szijjártó wrote, adding that they, however, share many similar views with Žemaitaitis' Dawn of Nemunas. According to Szijjártó, "we are both patriots who believe it is important for the European Union to be made up of strong member states and strong nations, who oppose migration and base their economic policies on common sense.
Žemaitaitis was expelled from his previous party in 2024 after the Constitutional Court ruled that his regular anti-Semitic outbursts and hate speech violated his parliamentary oath and the Lithuanian constitution. He resigned from his seat in parliament and formed Dawn of Nemunas. 444 compiled a few quotes from the anti-Semitic politician based on information from Tel Aviv University:
"How long will our politicians continue to kneel before the Jews, who killed our people and contributed to the oppression and torture of Lithuanians and the destruction of our country? When will the Jews apologize to us?"
"We, the Lithuanian people, must never forget the Jews and Russians who actively contributed to the destruction of our nation!" “The descendants of the NKVD and KGB, i.e., the Jews are still ruling over the Lithuanians today.”
"A Jew was climbing a ladder and he accidentally fell; grab a stick, kids, and kill that little Jew."
– he once quoted an alleged Lithuanian adage to suggest that Israel should not be surprised if anti-Semitism is on the rise in the world.
The meeting between Žemaitaitis and Szijjártó was criticized by the Lithuanian Social Democrats – the country's prime minister is a member of the party – because they were not informed of it in advance. According to commentators, they view the meeting with the Hungarian Foreign Minister as an attempt by Žemaitaitis, who does not hold a government position, to project a diplomatic line independent of the government's foreign policy with the help of the Hungarian minister, whom they consider a Kremlin sympathizer.
“This is an attempt to develop an alternative foreign policy. But then, there's no denying that Mr. Žemaitaitis is living in an alternate reality.”
– the Lithuanian Presidential Office reacted in a separate statement. Szijjártó's negotiating partner is currently under legal investigation for his anti-Semitic statements. The country's chief prosecutor has once again officially requested that parliament suspend his immunity, which the deputies voted for with 101 votes in favor, no votes against and no abstentions, thus allowing the criminal proceedings to continue, according to an article in 444.
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