Republican Senate: Hungary’s high inflation is due to Ukrainian refugees

A US senator tweeted a few days ago that Hungary’s admission of one million Ukrainian refugees was responsible for the country’s inflation rate, by far the highest in the EU at 25 percent.

1 million refugees cause high inflation in Hungary?

Hungarian inflation has reached a 26-year high of 25 percent, while the EU average has fallen back to 10.4 percent. A Financial Times article on soaring Hungarian inflation has caught the eye of American conservative publicist and activist Avik Roy. He wrote this on Twitter:

Natcons keep insisting that Orbán’s Hungary is a haven of pro-family public policy. I’m not sure many families can prosper in a country with 25% inflation. https://t.co/u8eo4BPhRf pic.twitter.com/gCQdcbQMrI

— Avik Roy 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@Avik) January 30, 2023

As a response to this, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance tweeted:

Hungary took in a million refugees from Ukraine, something Mr. flag-in-the-bio probably supports. Now he’s dunking on a country of 10 million for the predictable supply shortages. https://t.co/sBUtzYsnMr

— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) January 30, 2023

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Both claims are false

Apart from the obvious ad-hominem in Vance’s tweet, its two basic claims are fundamentally false.

Firstly, as Telex writes, Hungary has not taken in a million refugees from Ukraine. According to the latest data from the Hungarian authorities, as of 31 January 2023, 33 603 Ukrainian citizens have applied for asylum in Hungary since the outbreak of the war. That is merely 3.36 percent of the number Vance mentions.

Secondly, Hungary has officially accepted a number of Ukrainian refugees equivalent to 0.34 percent of its population. By contrast, Poland, with a population of 38 million, has taken in a total of 1 563 386 Ukrainian refugees. This represents more than 4 percent of the population. However, while Hungary has an inflation rate of 25 percent, Poland has only 15.3 percent, according to Eurostat. So if there really is a shortage of goods and inflation in Hungary because of the large number of refugees, then inflation in Poland should be even higher.

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Energy ministry: New sanctions ban re-export of Russian oil products

The new European Union sanctions will ban the import and re-export of Russian oil products from Sunday. However, Hungary’s exemption from the former and various alternative resources will ensure the country’s energy security, the energy ministry said on Saturday.

Thanks to Hungary’s government, pipeline deliveries received exemption when Russian crude imports were restricted in the summer of 2022, the ministry’s statement said. The ban on the import of oil products and on the re-export between member states will impact Hungary’s trade with other member states and its purchases from the Bratislava refinery, the statement said.

The country’s energy security continues to be ensured through domestic production and imports through the Friendship and Adria pipelines, as well as other imports, it said. 

At the same time, the consequences of the sanctions may result in rising energy prices in Europe and then in Hungary, it said. Since Russia supplied about half of Europe’s diesel imports, Europe is expected to face diesel shortages and rising prices of oil products, the statement said. It will probably have to resort to imports from India, the Middle East and China, it said. 

Meanwhile, the EU is mulling further sanctions on nuclear energy and gas imports, the ministry said. Hungary’s government continues to oppose them, as the restrictions have failed to end the war but hit European consumers with rising prices, and energy crisis and supply chain issues. The failed sanction policy is pushing Europe towards a crisis, and harms member states, companies and families, the statement said.

In the latest National Consultation survey, 97 percent of Hungarians “said no to sanctions”, and it is time their voice should be heard in Brussels too, the statement said.

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Government official: EP resolution on war ‘step towards escalation’

The European Parliament adopted a resolution last week on the Russia-Ukraine war, calling for stepping up weapon deliveries to Ukraine, among other measures, a state secretary of the cabinet office said on Saturday.

The 7th point of the resolution calls for deliveries of more armoured vehicles and ammunition, to be followed by long-distance missile systems and fighter jets to the war-torn country, Csaba Dömötör said. “This is everything but a call for peace. More like a big step towards the escalation of the war,” Dömötör said in a video on Facebook.

Point 26 of the resolution calls for the full embargo of Russian fossil fuels and uranium, which would mean banning the imports of gas and nuclear fuel rods, Dömötör said. Rising energy prices have already fuelled record inflation, Dömötör warned. A full embargo will “guarantee” further price increases, he said. “As usual, leftist parties have voted for the resolution,” he added.

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Source: telex.hu, MTI