This is the third installment of a series of articles appearing in HFP on the meteoric rise of Sebastian Gorka, President Trump’s counterterrorism adviser. Recently questions have been raised about Mr. Gorka’s competence and his connection to anti-Semitic groups and individuals. (See: Part 1 & Part 2.)
Hungary’s far-right movement is pro-Iranian, in fact, according to press reports the Iranian government has provided financial support to far-right organizations. While living in Budapest Sebastian Gorka maintained close relations with leading figures of the far-right, among them pro-Iranian activists.
British-born Mr. Gorka desperately wanted to make a name for himself in far-right circles as he was trying to elbow himself into the top echelon of the “national radical” movement. His efforts were only partially successful. Since he did not grow up in Hungary, he was not familiar with the country, and his political allies often saw him as nothing more than an English translator, providing material for the English speaking media.
Mr. Gorka, or as he was known at that time, Gorka Sebestyén, held a press conference in 2006 with his political allies in front of the Corvin movie theatre in Budapest. He appeared with two prominent members of the Hungarian far-right, Tamás Molnár, the ex-vice-chairman of the Jobbik party and László Grespik. In an earlier article we covered Mr. Molnár (read here) now we deal with Mr. Grespik who died in December 2016.
The Day of Honor commemorates the night of February 11, 1945 when remnants of the fascist German and Hungarian forces attempted a breakout from the Castle of Buda besieged by the Soviets. In the last 20 years Hungarian far-right groups organize torch marches and heavy-metal concerts on that day to remember “the Nazi heroes.” (Watch video of 2008 Day of Honor rally here.)
Mr. Grespik served as a defense lawyer of the Hungarian skinheads. In one noted case in 1999 his clients had attended a Day of Honor heavy-metal concert where the band played songs with lyrics describing Jews as the “scum of the earth, stinking dirty hoard, parasites living off our country! They got what they wanted, and are holding Hungary in their hands (…) They are the ones who are allowed to do anything, fight them, protect yourself!” And: “Run, run, stinking Jew, sooner or later you’ll turn into soap anyway.”
When the young neo-Nazis were charged with public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, Mr. Grespik requested that the judge disclose “whether she regarded herself Jewish or had Jewish ancestry.” As a defense lawyer Grespik maintained that you cannot get justice in Hungary from a judge “who has Jewish blood.”
Grespik also worked closely with other prominent far-right figures, among them Ms. Krisztina Morvai. They even made a film together about their collaboration. (Click here to watch the film – in Hungarian.)
Ms. Morvai is currently Jobbik’s representative in the European Parliament; she is a long-time supporter of the Iranian regime. On March 4, 2009 Ms. Morvai attended an international conference in Teheran with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and stated: “We absolutely support prosecution of Israeli war criminals.” (Read Morvai’s statement in the Tehran Times.)
Mr. Gorka is President Trump’s counterterrorism adviser. It is quite unsettling that less than a decade ago Mr. Gorka had political ties to far-right, pro-Iranian individuals, and it is shocking that even today he maintains a public Facebook “friend status” with Mr. Tamás Molnár, the one-time vice-chairman of the pro-Iranian Jobbik party.
György Lázár