Hungary's weakness breeds right-wing militias

The Hungarian parliament on Monday limited the scope of action for far-right militias who act aggressively towards the Roma. The rise of paramilitary organisations is a consequence of the state's own mistakes, writes journalist Miklós Tallián on the opinion portal Komment: "For decades the state has shirked its responsibility to take action against petty crime, which is a logical consequence of the ghettoisation of the Roma. This has inevitably led to self-defence measures, and in the worst cases to people taking the law into their own hands. It's obvious that this undermines the rule of law, but in the present situation self-defence is a natural reaction. If the state fails in its duty to prevent and fight crime, others will necessarily take matters into their own hands. … This is, I repeat, not legal, but entirely understandable in view of the lack of public order."

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