Republican Senate: Hungary’s high inflation is due to Ukrainian refugees
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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
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.
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.
Most that came into Hungary from Ukraine kept on moving until they got someplace with a livabe wage. Not only is our “family friendly” country has the high inflation, it has terrible funding for schools and medical. We pay lots and get nothing in return except the same blame on the EU. Wonder where are all the complaints about a U.S. senator trash talking. Oh, they are supporting the propaganda here, so it is OK. The conservatives here are ruled by a washed up reality star living in a resort in Florida, Trump, and a bow tie wearing frozen food heir, Tucker Carlson, who was invited here by Victor to give him his five minutes of fame on american TV.