Hungarians come together to help refugees raising 540 million

People across Hungary have come together to help the refugees arriving from Ukraine, government spokeswoman Alexandra Szentkirályi said on Sunday.

Speaking in Barabás, in north-eastern Hungary, where she was visiting the local aid point and took part in distributing the donations, Szentkirályi said the system set up for supporting the refugees is working smoothly, with the authorities, municipalities, civil organisations, aid organisations and the government all working together to help them.

Szentkirályi said there is also an aid point in Asztély, on the other side of the Beregsurány border crossing, where the staff of the Hungarian Interchurch Aid provide temporary shelter, distribute food and hygiene products and assess the needs of the refugees waiting to cross the border.

“As difficult and sad as this situation is, it is also uplifting to see everyone coming together to help these people fleeing the war,” she said, noting that the refugees are received with kind words and gestures at every border crossing, aid point and railway station.

Warm clothes and a bowl of hot food are important, Szentkirályi said, but most people say that what really matters is “a smile, a kind word and a hug”. Many have left their fathers, husbands and brothers behind in Ukraine, she said.

This can be tough to handle, and we cannot be grateful enough to the people who try to help those fleeing the war “first hand”, the government spokeswoman said.