麻豆社

Nick Thorpe meets a Gypsy family whose newborn baby Rikardo has divided Hungary, and sparked a national debate on racism.

Rikardo is their third child, a fact that Elod Novad, deputy leader of the far-right Jobbik party, used to claim Hungarians would soon be "a minority" in their "own homes" and that Gypsies were Hungary's "biggest problem". This caused an avalanche of both approval and condemnation of his views. Rikardo has became Hungary's most famous Gypsy, at only a few days old.

The Roma, or Gypsies are they prefer to be called, are Hungarians with equal rights. Rikardo's birth seemed to hold up a mirror in which both Hungarian racism and anti-racism were reflected. Opposition and government politicians tried to outdo one another with gestures and words of solidarity with the family.

(Photo: Baby Rikardo and his parents. Credit: 麻豆社)