Far-right martial arts competition to take place in Budapest this weekend

On Saturday, 6 May a martial arts competition dubbed European Fight Night will take place in the Hungarian capital. The European far-right calls it the largest radical nationalist gathering since Covid hit. During the event, participants from 12 different countries will spar with each other in 15 separate combat sports.

Other than fighting matches, concerts will also take place throughout the event. It will also be possible to buy clothes from far-right fashion brands. While there are advertisements, the organisers are being secretive in many aspects. For example, they highlighted that attendees are not allowed to snap photos or videos or reveal the location of the event to the public. Those caught breaking these rules will be thrown out, Telex writes.

Main organisers

On their official page, they named 3 main organisations responsible for the program. One is the Hungarian Legio Hungaria, lead by Béla Incze. The two others are the German Kampf der Nibelungen and the French Pride France. These two groups are headed by Alexander Deptolla and Tomasz Szkatulski respectively.

Incze used to be the assistant of an old unnamed Hungarian far-right parliamentary representative, before being fired for allegedly assaulting a police officer. While Legio Hungaria is not a well-known or large organisation, they managed to bring attention to themselves several times in the last few years. In 2019 they damaged a Jewish community centre, in 2021 they destroyed a Black Lives Matter statue in Budapest, and this year they supposedly attacked journalists reporting about a far-right event.

Behind the scenes

European Fight Night and other similar far-right martial art events are said to have a more sinister background purpose. This is where representatives of more secretive radical organisations meet and coordinate with each other.

According to German authorities, one of these is an international white supremacist group called Hammerskins. They have reportedly helped out Kampf der Nibelungen in organising their events since 2013. According to Bellingcat investigative journalism group, they have a sizable membership across Europe. They have partaken in several crimes, including assault and murder as well.

It is also said that they have strong connections with Legio Hungaria too. Other similar neo-Nazi organisations worth mentioning are Combat 18 and Blood and Honour, all of which can directly or indirectly be linked to Incze.

Robert Claus previously wrote a book on the far-right martial arts scene. He claims that these events can be viewed as a kind of preparation among these groups to train themselves for actual physical confrontation. They also serve networking and recruitment purposes.

Source: Telex