Guardian reporter thrown out from Budapest CPAC in the middle of an interview

Flóra Garamvölgyi, the Hungarian reporter of The Guardian, was thrown out from the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) conference in Budapest in the middle of an interview with a former Republican senator and presidential candidate. Security talked about higher order and registration system errors.

According to telex.hu, the organisers of CPAC Hungary rejected the registration of journalists from multiple Hungarian and foreign news outlets. But Ms Garamvölgyi could register and received a confirmation. Later she got an email saying there was not enough places to receive her. However, she was at the airport by then, so she came and tried to get in. She successfully did so and worked freely at the event on Thursday.

However, on Friday afternoon (when the conference was nearing its end), when she interviewed former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, an organiser dragged her away. Then three security people escorted her to the registration desk, where organisers told her it was a system error she could enter. Therefore, she had to leave the event.

CPAC – Panel discussion focuses on migration, challenges

A roundtable discussion focusing on challenges posed by migration was held with the participation of European and American experts at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest on Friday. Hosting the discussion, Erno Schaller-Baross, an MEP of ruling Fidesz, noted the Hungarian government’s firm position maintained since 2015 that the borders of Hungary and Europe must be protected and steps must be taken in the migrants’ countries of origin and transit. He said that Hungary had faced constant “attacks” from Europe over the fence along its southern border, and Brussels had only reimbursed only some 2 percent of its border protection costs.