Jobbik graffiti.

After a three-day visit to the country by officials, the Simon Wiesenthal Center is urging the Hungarian government–as well as the European Parliament– to investigate reports of  a growing relationship between Iran and the anti-Semitic Jobbik Hungarian political party.

“Hungarian leaders we met confirmed that the Jobbik party and the Iranian regime share a hatred for Jews, Israel, the European Union and the United States,”  Rabbi Abraham Cooper associate Dean and Dr. Shimon Samuels Director of International Relations of the Centre reported, adding that “a Socialist Party MP told them that Jobbik’s increasingly anti-Semitic and anti-Israel attacks can be linked in part to the growing connection.”

Dr. Samuels added that the Wiesenthal Center is urging Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament to launch his own investigation into these ties to ascertain “if Jobbik serves as a facilitator for Iranian penetration into Central Europe”. There are currently three members of the Jobbik party who serve as MEPs in the European Parliament. “It would be a mockery of the EU’s sanctions regime against Tehran if these allies of the Iranian regime would be voting on  whether steps should be taken against Tehran’s terrorist proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah”.

“Tehran has used similar tactics to establish a presence in Latin America and Africa. It must be prevented from establishing such a foothold in Europe”, Dr. Samuels concluded.

Jobbik, Hungary’s third largest political party, is well known for its anti-Semitic stance, which runs so deep that last year a party official was forced to resign when it became known that he had Jewish ancestry.

Other incidents included a party official suggesting a list be made up of Jews in the country who posed a threat to national security. A complaint filed against the politician was later dismissed.