178,894 refugees arrive in Hungary by Tuesday

By Tuesday morning, 178,894 people entered Hungary at one of the five border crossings with Ukraine, government spokeswoman Alexandra Szentkirályi told a press conference after a meeting of the Mational Humanitarian Council tasked with assessing the humanitarian situation inconnection with the war in Ukraine.

So far, the Hungarian disaster management authority has provided accomodation to 3,252 people, 1,780 children among them, Szentkirályi said.

Council head Milkos Soltesz, who also serves as the state secretary for church and minority relations, said charity organisations have helped 81,600 people in Hungarian localities near the border, and at railway stations. Hungarian cooperation to help those fleeing from war is “exemplary”, he said.

Szentkirályi, visiting a logistics hub of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service earlier on Tuesday in Budapest, said the government was doing all it could to protect the Hungarian people.

She praised cross-border cooperation to help refugees from Ukraine involving the police, disaster relief and aid workers, local governments, government agencies, as well as volunteers.

Budapest receives 4,000 refugees on Monday

On Monday, 3,983 Ukrainian refugees arrived in Budapest by train, local police said, adding that the number included 1,194 children.

Most of the new arrivals have plans to stay with or contact relatives in Budapest, while 119 people asked the authorities for help with accommodation, the police said.