Eastern Europe: rise of the (far) right

Extreme right wing political parties -- including Hungary's Jobbik -- made considerable gains in this summer's elections to the European Parliament, the European Union's legislative body. For subscribers to Global Post's Passport section, my piece on these developments is now available online.

The piece includes comment from veteran political observers in Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, and from Jobbik itself, a controversial political party whose paramilitary arm holds military-style marches through the country's Roma (gypsy) neighborhoods. (The party denies any involvement in a series of death squad style killings of Roma, suggesting Hungary's Socialist government has staged them to discredit the party.)

On Saturday, Hungarian police announced the arrest of four suspects in the recent killings, but their identities have yet to be released.