Several Jewish leaders have slammed László Bíró, a joint candidate of the opposition, for his anti-Semitic and racist statements, the daily Magyar Nemzet said. Chief Rabbi Tamás Róna told the paper that politicians who influence public opinion were doubly obliged to weigh their words carefully. Jobbik politician Bíró, who will run as an individual candidate in the Oct. 11 Borsod County by-election as a joint candidate of opposition parties, including the major left-wing parties, is accused of having made several anti-Semitic and racist statements in the past. The rabbi said that even though Biro had apologised for making such statements, in his view there was no place in the legislature for politicians who make inflammatory remarks. Slomó Köves of the United Hungarian Jewish Community told the paper that it was worrying that “the parties that support him indirectly legitimise anti-Semitism”. The paper noted that, among others, András Heisler, president of Mazsihisz, Zoltán Somogyi, founder of Political Capital, and Bernadett Szél, former co-president of LMP, had condemned Bíró’s anti-Semitic statements.