Hungarian radical party welcomes law tightening on guest workers

Opposition Mi Hazánk has claimed credit for the government’s recently announced changes to rules on guest workers, saying the government’s move was a rearguard reaction to the radical party’s rising popularity and protests against the law.

The economic development ministry on Thursday said the government is drafting legislation to further tighten regulations on immigration and labour of third-country citizens.

“[Ruling] Fidesz has backed down on the import of guest workers,” Mi Hazánk deputy leader Dávid Dócs told a press conference on Friday.

Instead of a mass influx of guest workers to Hungary, Mi Hazánk wants vacancies to be filled by enticing Hungarians who have emigrated to return home, Dócs said.

The party is also in favour of supporting domestic small businesses over basing the economy on battery production, leading to the sector’s multinationals importing masses of guest workers, he added.

“We don’t want to become a country of immigrants,” Dócs said, adding that there were already “hundreds of thousands” of guest workers in Hungary, “while close to a million Hungarians have left as economic refugees”.

Mi Hazánk would only take in a limited number of guest workers who would not be a burden to society, Dócs said.

“We’re not xenophobic, we simply fear for our country,” he added.

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