A controversial photo of a bus near Hungary’s Austrian border sparked speculation about illegal migration – but the passengers were actually Stipendium Hungaricum students. One of them now explains what happened and why the incident matters.
Around mid-August, a bus stopped at a rest area near Fertőendréd, close to Hungary’s border with Austria. Women wearing headscarves and dark-skinned men stepped off during the break.
A photograph of the passengers soon appeared online, accompanied by questions and speculation about who they were and why they were there. The answer was considerably less mysterious.
They were Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship students returning from a visit to Sopron, where they had spent the day learning about the city’s Roman heritage, the 1921 referendum and the founding of the Hungarian state.
Hungary’s National Union of Students (HÖOK) quickly responded, saying that the people photographed were scholarship students rather than illegal migrants. Political influencer Virág Gulyás, who shared the image, stood by her decision to raise questions about the bus and later challenged HÖOK’s response.
As one of the thousands of Stipendium Hungaricum students currently studying in Hungary, I believe the episode deserves a closer look.
Hungary has every right to debate migration, border protection and who is allowed to enter the country. But international students who came here through a Hungarian government scholarship programme should not become collateral damage in that debate.
Who was actually on the bus?
There is nothing controversial about a country enforcing its immigration laws or protecting its borders. Those are legitimate responsibilities of any state. But that was simply not what this particular bus was about.
Stipendium Hungaricum is a Hungarian government scholarship programme launched in 2013. It operates through bilateral agreements between Hungary and partner countries and is managed by the Tempus Public Foundation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Students do not simply arrive in Hungary without a formal process.
Applicants submit their documents through the scholarship system and, depending on their country, through the relevant sending partner. They then go through nomination, university admission and selection procedures before receiving a scholarship.
The competition is considerable: For the 2026/27 academic year, the programme received more than 113,000 applications from around the world.
Hungarian universities participating in the programme offer hundreds of courses taught in English and other foreign languages, attracting students from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and beyond.
This is not an informal route into Hungary. It is an international higher-education programme created, funded and promoted by the Hungarian state.
More than 100,000 applications
Stipendium Hungaricum has become one of the most visible elements of Hungary’s international higher-education strategy. Demand has continued to increase.
The University of Debrecen alone received almost 44,000 Stipendium Hungaricum applications for the 2026/27 academic year, according to university figures. International students are now a familiar part of university life in Budapest, Debrecen, Szeged, Pécs and other Hungarian cities.
They study medicine, engineering, economics, international relations and dozens of other subjects. Many of us came to Hungary precisely because the Hungarian government actively encouraged us to do so.That is what makes the Fertőendréd incident particularly striking.
The students photographed at the rest stop had been invited to Hungary through a government-backed scholarship programme and admitted to Hungarian universities. They were returning from a programme designed to teach them more about Hungary when their presence suddenly became a source of suspicion online.
The issue is not whether journalists or members of the public are allowed to ask questions.Of course they are. But journalism should also involve checking easily verifiable facts before an insinuation is allowed to take on a life of its own.
What does Hungary get in return?
Stipendium Hungaricum is not simply financial support given to foreign students. One of its wider goals is to build long-term academic, professional and personal relationships between Hungary and scholarship holders’ home countries.
Thousands of students leave Hungarian universities every year as doctors, engineers, researchers, economists and other professionals. Some return home. Others continue their studies or careers elsewhere. Many remain connected to Hungary through universities, professional networks and alumni communities.
For Hungarian universities, international students can also contribute to research partnerships, international rankings and a more diverse academic environment. University towns benefit as well.
International students rent apartments, shop locally, use services and take part in campus and city life.
And Hungary gains something less easily measured: thousands of people who return home with first-hand experience of the country and who may continue talking about Hungary for decades. That kind of connection is difficult to achieve through traditional diplomacy alone.
Scholars, not suspects
Hungary deserves a serious discussion about immigration policy. It deserves a serious discussion about border protection too. But those discussions should distinguish between illegal migration and foreign students who entered Hungary legally through a programme established by the Hungarian government itself.
The people photographed near Fertőendréd had gone through formal application procedures, had been admitted to Hungarian universities and were taking part in an educational programme.
They were not an unexplained threat.
They were students.
And before a photograph becomes evidence of something more alarming, that is the sort of basic fact worth establishing first.
The author, Hassan Farooq, is a final-year International Relations student at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), studying in Hungary under the Stipendium Hungaricum programme. The views expressed in this article are his own.
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