At a hearing of parliament’s justice committee on Tuesday, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said government offices had done an “outstanding job” providing aid to refugees arriving from Ukraine, while the government system overseeing mandatory price caps on some food products had worked smoothly.
Gergely Gulyás said local administration would be transferred from the PM’s Office to an independent, new ministry, headed by Tibor Navracsics, on Jan 1.
Highlighting the work of Hungary’s 313 local government offices, Gulyás said their 2,500 clerks had met 14,300 clients last year, while 250 mobile offices operated in buses had reached out to 3.5 million people.
The local government offices processed 40,000 asylum applications, and registered 1.2 million entries from Ukraine, Gulyás said. He noted the government’s position that “Hungary does not need to accommodate people arriving in hopes of a better life from the other hemisphere, but when Hungary is the first safe country, it will provide fast, generous, and legally correct assistance.” He thanked charity organisations for their assistance to refugees, and said the central budget had contributed a combined 4.5 billion forints to their budgets.
Hungary had an interest in a strong NATO
Answering a question concerning Sweden’s NATO entry, he said Hungary had an interest in a strong NATO, but added that “Sweden’s membership will not influence NATO’s combined defence capabilities.” He said, however, that the government had submitted the ratification to parliament. The vote, he said, would be held “sooner or later”.
He also said “Sweden and its political elite should give some kind of answer concerning their defamation of Hungary.” “This issue does not seem to be too important for Sweden, since there has been no diplomatic activity aimed at reaching even a minimum of the settlement of differences of opinion or clarifying Sweden’s slanderous remarks on Hungary,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gulyás said Hungary’s law on guest workers would be “Europe’s most stringent” legislation, limiting the number of foreign job seekers and restricting their employment to certain positions.
NATO must remain committed to preventing direct confrontation with Russia
Because of its geographical location between war-torn Ukraine and Europe’s busiest migration route, Hungary expects NATO to remain committed to its decision that a direct confrontation with Russia must be prevented at all costs and that it must avoid becoming a party to the war in Ukraine, the foreign minister said on Tuesday.
In a Facebook post before a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Péter Szijjártó said that since migration was one of the main root causes of terrorism, the alliance should also step up its counter-terrorism activities and help preserve stability in Europe’s southern neighbourhood.
Read also:
- NATO battlegroup in Hungary tested during exercise – Details, video HERE
- Expert: Orbán-blocked Swedish NATO accession may result in harsh anti-Hungary US sanctions
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3 Comments
Appears we do not have to worry too much about foreigners sticking around in Hungary.
As Mr. Gulyás states, last year, we registered 1.2 million entries from Ukraine and only ended up with 40,000 asylum applications. So let’s take his numbers at face value: 1 160 000 people took one look, and decided to leave for another country. Not staying our Land of Milk and Honey. I am assuming any of these “guest workers” would probably also prefer a Schengen visa, and work elsewhere.
Speaking of terrorism – Politicians handing out Hungarian passports without properly verifying identity surely qualifies:
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-08-01/us-restricts-visa-free-travel-for-hungarian-passport-holders-citing-security-concerns
Good thing not many of us travel to the US very often. Pain in the /// for those who do, and let’s not forget Mr. Szijjártó’s warning about the terrorist threat to us all (albeit this one of our own making)!
There is a great story about how the Fidesz government recruited a group of people in Asia to work in Hungary. Fidesz paid for their airfare and issued Schengen visas. When they arrived at Ferihegy a bus was waiting to pick them up. They piled in and all left the country to go to Germany or elsewhere in the EU. As for Swedish “defamation” what does Fidesz engage in day in and day out to “Brussels”, the US, Soros, and anyone who could possibly in their sights? What is Fidesz doing right at this moment with billboards all over the country featuring EU president Ursula von der Leyen? Moreover, what material factor could a Swedish documentary program or a comment about Hungary by a member of the government have on Sweden accession into the NATO defence organization? How stupid can Hungarians be to accept ridiculous Fidesz demands and rhetoric?
The difference is foreigners imported are willing to work, many 2015 refugees in Germany and other countries are still unemployed.