Prime Minister Péter Magyar held an extraordinary press conference on the day of Fidesz’s leadership congress, claiming that evidence has emerged exposing what he described as one of the Orbán government’s greatest political contradictions.
According to Magyar, government documents show that in 2024 the cabinet was preparing to establish a migrant reception centre in the village of Vitnyéd, in north-western Hungary, while publicly denying any such plans.
Consultations began after the EU court ruling
Prime Minister Péter Magyar said the story began with a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union in June 2024. The court imposed a EUR 200 million fine on Hungary and ordered the country to pay an additional EUR 1 million per day until it complied with previous rulings concerning asylum and migration procedures.
Péter Magyar argued that although the government publicly rejected implementing the ruling, internal discussions had already begun during the summer of 2024 about creating a reception facility for migrants. Documents presented at the press conference allegedly show that several cabinet meetings addressed the issues of transit zones and the accommodation of asylum seekers.
Vitnyéd emerged as the chosen location
According to the documents released by Magyar, Vitnyéd-Csermajor was first identified as a potential site on 21 August 2024. The records indicate that then-Interior Minister Sándor Pintér was authorised to prepare the property for the reception of refugees, writes Telex.
Plans reportedly envisaged converting the grounds of a former agricultural school and dormitory into a facility capable of housing up to 500 people. Preparatory documents mentioned the installation of containers, mobile sanitary units, healthcare facilities and police security measures. The estimated cost of the project was said to amount to several billion forints.
Locals protested, Orbán government denied
News of the planned development began to spread in autumn 2024, when local residents reported construction activity taking place under police supervision. Hundreds of people protested against the lack of transparency, while Austrian politicians also expressed concern about the possibility of a reception centre being established close to the border.
The former government, however, consistently denied that a migrant camp was being built in the area. At the time, Gergely Gulyás stated that the site was intended to serve as a summer camp for students, while the Ministry of the Interior dismissed media reports about a migrant facility as “outrageously false speculation”.
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Parliamentary investigation may follow
Péter Magyar maintains that the documents now made public directly contradict the Orbán government’s previous statements. He did not rule out the possibility of a parliamentary committee of inquiry being established to examine the matter and said that further information regarding the government’s plans for implementing the EU Migration Pact could be released in the coming days.
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