Opposition Jobbik has welcomed Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Monday remarks expressing support for plans to set up a dedicated border guard force.
Deputy party leader László György Lukács told an online press conference on Tuesday that Jobbik had been urging the move for years and the party is calling for setting up the force without delay.
The security situation in the region and the pressure posed by migration on Hungary’s borders have made it necessary to send units of soldiers and police from the country’s central areas to the borders and this has “created a vacuum” there, he said.
Setting up a stand-alone border guards service without delay is necessary and unavoidable, he said. The armed forces must focus on defence activities instead of guarding the borders and police have an important task to combat deteriorating public security, he added.
The Hungarian authorities are anticipating illegal migration from the south to skyrocket, a government official told public broadcaster M1 on Friday. Moreover, the increasingly aggressive behaviour of human smugglers “foreshadow a hot summer and autumn”.
Bence Rétvári, an interior ministry state secretary, said the authorities have caught more than 100,000 illegal entrants in southern Hungary since the start of the year, while 750 human smugglers have been detained, compared with 400 in the same period last year.
Some of the smugglers tried to “break through” the border in cars, he said, while others “threatened to use arms and hand grenades”.
Given the war in Ukraine and soaring food prices in Africa, more and more people are setting off for Europe, Retvari said, with a corresponding rise in the number of illegal migrants expected to turn up at Hungary’s southern border. He said Europe had “closed its eyes” to the problem and was now “even turning the other way”.
President Katalin Novák received a briefing on Wednesday on the protection of Hungary’s eastern border at an army base in Debrecen, public news channel M1 reported.
Novák, who is commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, was briefed on the situation at the border together with army chief Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi and Major General István Kun-Szabó at the command centre of the North-Eastern Task Force of the Armed Forces of Hungary.
Novák then left for Fehérgyarmat, in north-eastern Hungary. She is accompanied on her tour by a cadet of the Kratochvil Károly Military Secondary School whose outstanding academic achievements were recognised with an opportunity to travel with the president.
Dunja Mijatovic, the human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe, has praised Hungary’s “fair and effective” asylum procedure and open-border policy towards refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.
In a letter addressed to Interior Minister Sándor Pintér, Mijatovic expressed “deep appreciation for the solidarity and generosity” the Hungarian authorities and the Hungarian people have shown towards refugees from Ukraine. The commissioner said she understood that the vast majority of those fleeing Ukraine had “merely transited” Hungary and that Hungary had only received around 23,000 registrations for temporary protection by June 1.
Mijatovic said this constituted “a rather low proportion of the almost 700,000 entries from Ukraine” that were reported by the Hungarian authorities in that same period, and raised the concern that those fleeing may be receiving insufficient information about the protection options available to them in Hungary.
She also said that several Roma rights organisations had voiced complaints in border towns and Budapest about discriminatory attitudes at refugee shelters and when receiving assistance.
“I would like to reiterate that the provision of assistance and effective access to rights must be ensured to everyone in a nondiscriminatory manner and encourage you to strengthen your efforts to guarantee that the specific vulnerabilities and difficulties of Roma are adequately taken into account,” Mijatovic wrote.
The commissioner called on the Hungarian authorities to acknowledge, value and support the activities of civil groups in order to ensure that essential legal advice and information is provided to all those in need.
Meanwhile, Mijatovic said she was “deeply concerned” by the situations of third-country citizens and stateless individuals who she said had been excluded from the temporary protection scheme and had no possibility to apply for asylum because of the state of crisis due to mass migration declared in Hungary in 2015. She said that the humanitarian residence permits issued to the people in question did not provide them with any benefits and they had “no legal certainty of a lasting protection perspective”. She said Hungary’s current legislative framework would require such people to travel to Kyiv and make an appointment at the Hungarian embassy there to declare their intention to seek asylum in Hungary “if they are not to be expelled to Serbia”.
“This situation demonstrates, in my view, the inadequacy and unsustainability of the legislative framework related to asylum currently in place in Hungary,” Mijatovic wrote.
The commissioner also said it was “regrettable and particularly problematic” that “the sustained rhetoric by government officials” differentiated Ukrainians as “real refugees” and portrayed those fleeing atrocities and war elsewhere as economic migrants. She said this went against the core principle that human rights exist to protect everyone, in the same way, irrespective of national or ethnic origin, skin color, or belief.
Migrants attacked law enforcement officers protecting Hungary’s southern borders over two hundred times this year, with 28 officers suffering injuries, the national police said on its website on Friday.
A total of 238 attacks were recorded at borders in Bacs-Kiskun County and Csongrad-Csanad County. The attackers used sticks and threw stones, bricks and sand at the uniformed officers, injuring 28 of them, the website said.
Proceedings were started in 61 cases for alleged assault against a person in official capacity and 78 cases for assault against a person fulfilling public duty.
Hungary’s border police have apprehended nearly 100,000 illegal entrants since the beginning of the year, over twice as many as in the first half of last year, the prime minister’s chief domestic security advisor told public television M1 on Wednesday.
György Bakondi said the increase in numbers indicated a growing tendency in illegal migration, adding that the migrants were mostly young men approaching the border “in large groups trying to cross the border damaging the infrastructure and vehicles and behaving aggressively towards police and soldiers protecting the border”.
Bakondi warned that currently there were around 3.7 million illegal migrants in Turkey, nearly 4 million in Syria and some 8 million in Iran, and called for stepping up border controls and maintaining strict regulations.
Maintaining strong border protection is clearly justified, the prime minister’s chief domestic security advisor has said, noting “a complex and difficult situation” at Hungary’s borders and considerable pressure on the country’s southern borders.
György Bakondi told daily Magyar Nemzet in an interview that a total of 94 307 border violators had been caught this year by midnight on Monday, as against 41,244 in the same period last year —
more than a twofold increase in the number of illegal border crossings.
Criminal proceedings were launched against 705 human smugglers this year as against 376 in the same period of last year, he said.
Afghans, Pakistanis and Indians are turning up in large numbers at Hungary’s borders, as well as Syrians and the citizens of several other countries, Bakondi said.
“There are no signs of migration waning or stopping,”
he said. “Considering there have been no major changes in European Union policies in this area, it’s up to nation states to decide what happens at the borders,” he added.
The Hungarian police have compiled the various methods used by migrants to try to destroy cameras on Hungary’s southern border. From the Serbian side, they have easy access to the fence and for some reason they see the camera as a primary enemy. And in the second part of the video, you can see the migrants climbing over the fence being chased away by Hungarian police:
Hungarian, Czech and Austrian police arrested 177 illegal migrants entering Hungary in Csongrád-Csanád county in nine groups at night, the Hungarian police website said.
The illegal entrants apprehended in outlying areas of Roszke, Asotthalom and Morahalom identified themselves as nationals of Pakistan, Syria, Somalia, Turkey, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia.
Police: Close to 10,000 refugees arrive from Ukraine on Thursday
Meanwhile, fully 5,341 people crossed into Hungary directly from Ukraine on Thursday, while another 4,232 from Ukraine crossed from Romania, the national police headquarters said. Police issued temporary residence permits valid for thirty days to 305 people, the police website said on Friday.
Holders of such permits must contact a local immigration office near their place of residence within thirty days to apply for permanent documents, it added. Budapest police received 259 refugees, 102 children among them, arriving by train, according to the municipal police website.
The draft budget for next year submitted to the Fiscal Council sets a stricter deficit target of 3.5 percent of GDP and the public debt level of 73.8 percent, Mihály Varga, the finance minister, said on Friday. Varga said in a comment posted on social media that the government’s aim was to create a crisis-proof economy.
The economy is expected to grow by 4.1 percent in 2023,
he said. The minister said the government is establishing a special protection fund as a bulwark against the effects of the war and the related European Union sanctions, as well as higher energy prices.
Fully 6,092 people crossed into Hungary directly from Ukraine on Saturday, while another 5,484 from Ukraine crossed from Romania, the national police headquarters said.
Police issued temporary residence permits valid for thirty days to 414 people, the police website said on Sunday. Holders of such permits must contact a local immigration office near their place of residence within thirty days to apply for permanent documents, it added. Budapest police received 427 refugees, 170 children among them, arriving by train, according to the municipal police website.
Cars cannot go to Ukraine at the Beregsurány border crossing.
According to 24.hu, Ukrainian authorities cannot allow cars to enter Ukraine at Beregsurány due to an IT problem on their side. Passenger traffic, however, is undisturbed.
Police recommend using the Záhony or Tiszabecs border crossing instead.
A total of 6,671 people crossed into Hungary directly from Ukraine on Friday, while another 4,028 people from Ukraine crossed from Romania, the national police headquarters said.
Police issued temporary residence permits valid for thirty days to 312 people, the police website said on Saturday. Holders of such permits must contact a local immigration office near their place of residence within thirty days to apply for permanent documents, it added.
Budapest police received 465 refugees, 155 children among them, arriving by train, according to the municipal police website.
Jill Biden surprisingly appeared in Ungvár (Uzhgorod), Transcarpathia, Ukraine today to meet Olena Zelenska, the wife of President Volodimir Zelenskiy.
A secret visit
According to ATV, Jill Biden made a lightning visit to Uzhgorod, a Transcarpathian city 27.5 kilometres away from the Hungarian border. There, she met the Ukrainian first lady. Interestingly, Ukrainians celebrate mother’s day today. The two first ladies visited a local school and met people who fled from East Ukraine because of the Russian invasion.
The press release about the visit highlights that Jill Biden’s visit demonstrates how high officials of the USA support Ukraine. They added that
the first lady’s visit was kept a secret for “understandable reasons”.
Moreover, the Ukrainian press was not invited, only the press office of the White House was present.
According to the Hungarian News Agency (MTI), a total of 6,079 people crossed into Hungary directly from Ukraine on Saturday, while another 8,179 people from Ukraine crossed via Romania, the national police headquarters said.
Police issued temporary residence permits valid for thirty days to 618 people,
the police website said on Sunday. Holders of such permits must contact a local immigration office near their place of residence within thirty days to apply for permanent documents, it added.
Budapest police received 390 refugees, 162 children among them, by train, according to the municipal police website.
Fighters of the Hungarian Air Force were alerted because of an unidentified aircraft at the Eastern border of Hungary for the second time in only three days.
Radars detected an unidentified aircraft yesterday, late in the evening. Therefore, the Hungarian Air Force warned the Gripens, which took off minutes later. According to the statement of the Hungarian Defence Forces, the Hungarian headquarters detected the unidentified flying object at 11 pm at the eastern border of Hungary. A Hungarian fighter flew there but found nothing. It remained there for patrolling, then returned to the Kecskemét airbase, telex.hu wrote.
It was the second time this week that Hungarian fighters were alerted because of an unidentified aircraft. The last alert was on Tuesday, but the Gripen flying there found nothing.
The Hungarian government is urging greater contribution by the European Union to financial burdens linked to migration, the finance minister said on Wednesday.
Mihály Varga said on Facebook that Hungary had spent 600 billion forints (EUR 1.6bn) on protecting the southern border and 40 billion forints on managing the Ukrainian refugee situation. The EU contribution covers only 2 percent of the costs, he added.
Balázs Hidvéghi, an MEP of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz, will be in charge of a set of recommendations in the European Parliament which aim to enhance law enforcement cooperation across EU member states.
The recommendations will help member states coordinate their efforts towards eliminating cross-border crime by detecting and preventing illegal immigration and people smuggling, Hidveghi said in a statement on Wednesday. They will aim to enhance cooperation between the police forces of member states for example in capturing suspected criminals or in instances when a joint operation is required, he said.
“The recommendations will be a step towards a safer Europe,” the MEP said.
Miklós Soltész, the state secretary for church and minority relations, has praised the care Hungary has provided for refugees from Ukraine after visiting aid points at the Hungary-Ukraine border on Wednesday.
Hungarian law enforcement, local councils, government offices, charity groups and volunteers have done an “excellent” job helping refugees even though the country was “often subjected to ignoble attacks from the Ukrainian political sphere, including the Ukrainian president”, Soltész told public media in Beregsurány near the border.
Hungarians helped the refugees “in spite of the ignoble attacks, in spite of attempts to interfere in the Hungarian election system and even in spite of the fact that the ethnic Hungarian community in Transcarpathia has unfortunately been subjected to many attacks and decisions in recent years that have made their lives more difficult”, Soltész said.
But instead of being concerned with how certain Ukrainian politicians treat Hungarians, Hungary was concerned with those who are suffering,
When the aid points were set up at the border and in Budapest, Hungary had not known that it would have to help 300,000 people or that it would take in close to 600,000 refugees, he said.
Soltész added, however, that Hungary had not received much international assistance so far.
The state secretary expressed hope that the “Brussels bureaucracy” or other world leaders would recognise the need to assist Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia in their efforts to help refugees.
The general secretary of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, said that they would like to establish a permanent presence on the Eastern borders of the military alliance. He added that the new troops would be a response to possible Russian aggression in the future.
NATO sees the Russian threat as the new reality
According to blikk.hu, Stoltenberg said that what we are experiencing is the new reality, the new order of European security. Therefore, he asked the alliance commanders to prepare for the long-term adaptation of NATO to that situation. The general secretary added that the June NATO summit in Madrid would decide what to do next. He highlighted that NATO is transforming because of the deeds of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
As we reported before, NATO decided in March that they would create new battlegroups in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia.
Based on 24.hu, the Czech Republic would like to have some form of US military presence in the country. Defence Minister Jana Cernochová said she would like to raise that issue in their next bilateral meeting. That is scheduled after Easter with her American colleague, Lloyd Austin.
Prague would, for example, allow the USA to use some of its military bases like Slovakia did before. Prime Minister Petr Fiala said such decisions were so important that the government could not decide alone. They need the authorisation of the Parliament. Moreover, Cernochová confirmed that the Czechs would buy 12 or more American helicopters.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian refugees continue to arrive in Hungary every day. According to MTI, a total of 5,213 people crossed into Hungary directly from Ukraine on Saturday, while another 5,045 from Ukraine crossed from Romania, the national police headquarters told MTI on Sunday. Police issued temporary residence permits valid for thirty days to 930 people, the police website reported. Holders of such permits must contact a local immigration office near their place of residence within thirty days to apply for permanent documents, it added.
Budapest police received 531 refugees, 210 children among them, by train, according to the municipal police website.
Refugees arriving on special train services at Kőbnya felső railway station, in eastern Budapest, were taken by bus to the BOK sports and events centre serving as a humanitarian transit point. The authorities transported 22 people, including 11 children, to accommodation in the capital and outlying areas.
The 2022 Hungarian Parliamentary election is just around the corner, and it will decide whether the current government could hold its position for another four-year term, or the Hungarian joint opposition will eventually dethrone Fidesz after twelve years.
Mandinerreported that the British The New Culture Forum put together a nearly hour-long documentary on the situation of conservativism in Hungary trying to find answers on why Hungary has gotten demonised by Western politics.
General history
Over the past three terms of the Hungarian government, the country, or maybe more accurately Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has been widely demonised by the Western media. But what is the reason behind it and how well-founded it is?
Hungary is a country with a rich history, but its people were oppressed during the majority of the past five decades, most recently by the communist regime that ended only three decades ago, the documentary said.
The demonisation began not long after the election of Fidesz in 2010. This event marks the time when the relationship between Hungary and the European Union, or the West in general, started to worsen. The change became painfully clear following the events of the 2015 migration crisis in Europe.
“One would be forgiven for thinking that Viktor Orbán was the head of an authoritarian regime, but in reality, Hungarian conservative thinking has always been about the preservation of the country’s sovereignty and freedom in the face of threatening forces from whatever direction and in whatever form they may come,” – Peter Whittle, the interviewer and narrator of the documentary said.
The Hungarian government led by Viktor Orbán had a clear stance on migration that opposed the mainstream thinking within the EU, which has led to debates and the distancing between the two parties in a growing number of aspects of political thinking since then.
“Essentially a lot of it is down to political spite, […] unfortunately, Hungary has had a bad reputation because people have been attacking Orbán,” Tibor Fischer a journalist and Head of Literature at the Matthias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) said.
The Hungarian government said that they wanted to replenish the population of the country keeping to the traditional family model and supporting existing families as well as encouraging couples to have children, as opposed to strengthening the country’s population through outside sources, such as migration.
“Every year for 40 years, more Hungarians have died than born but rather than look to immigration to solve this problem, the Hungarian government decided to incentivise the growth of families from within,” – Peter Whittle highlighted.
Due to these views and the attempt at differentiating between illegal migration and legal asylum seekers, the EU and the West put Viktor Orbán in the crosshairs and he became the target of political attacks.
“Orbán is not someone who likes to be pushed around; he is a very independent-minded man,” – Tibor Fischer added as an explanation for the bad relationship between the Hungarian Government and Brussels.
John O’Sullivan, a Director at the Danube Institute Budapest said the following about the current political assessment of Hungary:
“Well, it is demonised because I think it represents a society which we all of us remember from the societies in which we grew up in which the government is not particularly interested in your ideas and lets you get on with life, it is in the old-fashioned sense of live and let live”.
“I do not think the Hungarian government for example has the slightest interest in whether you go to church on Sundays and if so, which church you go to, but they do think that the traditional morality and religious views of the Hungarian people deserve the respect of the law and of international law and organisations,” – John O’Sullivan added.
He also argued that Hungarians do not like the West’s take on the so-called „woke” revolution because Hungarian people can easily associate its preaching with the one they were listening to during the communist regime only three decades ago.
Final accord
“While the hostility to the traditional family continues to wreak havoc in the US and the countries of Western Europe, Hungary has pursued a pro-family agenda which is reaping a bountiful harvest,” – Peter Whittle said in connection with the increase in the number of births and marriages.
Peter Whittle ends the documentary by drawing a parallel between the political restoration of pride and identity with the currently ongoing Haussmann-project, which aims to revamp Budapest’s Castle District.
He says that the project speaks “more broadly” about the Hungarian political situation; “it speaks of the restoration of identity, beauty, respect and love for the country’s heritage, of the things that bind people together as a culture, a community”.
Fully 5,453 people crossed into Hungary directly from Ukraine on Friday, while another 5,949 from Ukraine crossed from Romania, the national police headquarters said.
Police issued temporary residence permits valid for thirty days to 1,012 people, the police website said on Friday. Holders of such permits must contact a local immigration office near their place of residence within thirty days to apply for permanent documents, it added.
Budapest police received 814 refugees, 297 children among them, by train, according to the municipal police website.
Refugees arriving on special train services at Kőbánya felső railway station, in eastern Budapest, were taken by bus to the BOK sports and events centre serving as a humanitarian transit point.
The authorities transported 24 people, including 13 children, to accommodation in the capital and outlying areas.
