migration

Hungarian government attacks EU where it hurts most

european union eu flag hungary

The European Parliament and EU Council negotiators have finalised the 2024 budget. But several countries, including the Hungarian government, are trying to block it.

The EU has reached an agreement

On Friday, the European Parliament and the European Council agreed on a common budget for 2024. That means a blueprint is now in place for what the union of states can commit to, under the supervision of the European Commission. The negotiations finally ended in a compromise. The final amount is EUR 189.4 billion, up from EUR 187 billion originally wanted by member states.

The European Parliament earmarked EUR 60 million for Erasmus+, EUR 85 million for Horizon Europe research and EUR 150 million for the neighbourhood and enlargement policy. The agreement also addressed the humanitarian needs arising from the conflict in Gaza, with EUR 250 million earmarked.

Under the agreement, many of the objectives will receive less spending, which many Member States did not like. A EUR 66 billion supplement for migration management, technology development and crisis management, as well as a EUR 50 billion aid package for Ukraine, were also discussed.

Hungary among the critical voices

Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, which are generally pro-austerity, also oppose the budget, but Hungary is the most vocal. The Hungarian government has publicly communicated that it will not vote for the nearly EUR 100 billion top-up until Hungarian payments blocked by various rule of law procedures are unblocked, portfolio.hu writes.

The other critical member states, on the one hand, are in favour of the loan, and on the other hand, they think that the aid to Ukraine should be covered in another way, because there is a good chance that someone would veto it, as Hungary has done many times. As an example, the Hungarian government now cites the fact that it held up aid to Ukraine until the end of last year – until the signing of the partnership agreement – just as it is not allowing payments to cover EU arms shipments from the European Peace Facility.

Renew MEP Valérie Hayer also criticised the agreement. According to her, this agreement prevents Europe from properly managing crises. Johannes Hahn, the EU’s budget commissioner, echoed this. Hahn stressed that no deal would be struck with the Hungarian government led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Special border gendarmerie will be introduced in Hungary?

Gendarmerie military Hungarian Defence Forces (Copy)

László Toroczkai, leader of the opposition Mi Hazánk party, has called for the military to be dispatched to “rein in people-smuggling gangs at the Hungary-Serbia border” and for a special border gendarmerie to be introduced.

Speaking at a demonstration held at Ásotthalom, in which supporters of his party blocked a lane on the road to the local border-crossing station, Toroczkai said the army should be called in immediately to take action against armed gangs. He said such a measure could be facilitated by Hungary’s emergency measures, and noted that the army had been dispatched in 2015 “when as yet there were no people smugglers with guns”.

Toroczkai demanded a “real border seal”, adding that border control would require dedicated military border guards “able to protect the border fence”, especially in the Ásotthalom-Mórahalom-Röszke area, “the main migration route”, he said.

Toroczkai also said the government should make rules more stringent and “treat as criminals those that damage the fence and cross into Hungary rather than escorting them back to the border, allowing them to try again within a few hours”.

Read also:

  • Collapsing Schengen: strict control at Hungarian Schengen border remains in effect longer – Read more HERE
  • Hamas, ISIS, Al-Kaida terrorists, arms come to Hungary – Details in THIS article

Hungarian Speaker: international financial system “is a giant pyramid scheme”

House Speaker László Kövér

The balance of powers between democratic states and private global powers without a democratic mandate “can still be restored”, the Speaker of Parliament said on Friday.

Speaking at an event held in Parliament as part of the study days of the European Conservatives and Reformists’ committee of regions, László Kövér said the balance could be restored only as long as “the majority in European countries still stand for normality, and there is still parliamentary democracy, and while there are political forces shouldering responsibility for their homeland, nation and Europe.”

The current international financial system “is a giant pyramid scheme”, Kövér told the event entitled Defending common sense and strengthening cooperation in the EU’s multi-level governance. In that system, he said, state finances based on a budget saw growing debt each year while “private powers” saw their “stock of outstanding loans growing and growing”. The power of states to represent their interests “is shrinking while that of private powers grows”, he said.

“Although the connection seems remote, that process is rooted in abnormal developments in the politics, economy and culture of the western world and Europe,” he said.

Hungarian family policies “exemplary” in Europe

Judit Varga, the (Fidesz) head of parliament’s committee for EU affairs, told the meeting that Hungary had a working model to address demographic challenges. She said Hungary’s family policies were seen as “exemplary” in Europe and the world.

“Hungary’s demographic policy is also a message to Europe. We don’t want to address that challenge by settling foreigners in the country, but by strengthening families,” she said.

“We European conservatives have the task to lead Europe back to common sense, because that is the only way to ensure peace and security, and the only way to protect the European way of life, security and freedom,” she said.

CoR ECR President Marco Marsilio said preserving European values was key to the community’s stability and economic growth.

Read also:

  • Hungarian government asked to pay back extra profit from utility fee increase to families – Read more HERE

Hungarian minister outraged on NGOs

Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó

The international liberal mainstream “is trying to lord it over global politics by treating NGOs as representatives” of certain countries, “which is absurd as the representatives of countries and societies are governments elected by the people,” Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in Guatemala City on Thursday.

Szijjártó said the European Union, at one time a global leader, now faced multiple challenges and slacking competitiveness.

Addressing high-ranking officials of the Guatemalan foreign ministry, he said challenges included “the liberal mainstream’s attacks on traditional values, illegal migration and war”.

The minister said NGOs had “no legitimacy” to speak in the name of nations as they were not elected by the people.

He said the liberal mainstream also dominated the media. “We are fortunate in Hungary because half the media is right-wing, conservative, patriotic and Christian Democratic. The liberal mainstream sees that as a dictatorship because they think democracy is when 99 percent of the media is liberal.”

Conservative values, Christian traditions, national cultures and the traditional family model were, he said, under “attack from all round”. “Hungary, a 1,000 year-old Christian country, feels responsible to protect those values and Christian communities worldwide,” he added.

Hungary protects children against LGBTQ propaganda

The family enjoys constitutional protections in Hungary, and the protection of children “against LGBTQ propaganda” is enshrined in law, he noted.

The Orban government has been on power for 13 years, having won four consecutive elections with a two-thirds majority, he said. “Europe sees that as a dictatorship. The European Parliament keeps adopting resolutions saying that what happens in Hungary is not democratic. Why? Because the liberals are not in power,” he said.

“Our stance is that democracy is based on the people’s will. Europe defines democracy as a liberal democracy,” he said.

Szijjarto said that Hungary had no wish to kowtow to the liberal mainstream, media or NGOs but to satisfy the demands of its citizens “who decide on the future of the country”, he said.

Hungary under enormous migration pressure

Regarding illegal migration, Szijjártó said that as a country on the external borders of the EU, Hungary was under “enormous migration pressure”.

“Unfortunately, the EU sees migration as a human rights issue rather than a legal one,” he said.

Szijjártó referred to “parallel societies in Europe” and the growing threat of terrorism, adding that Hungary was fighting for the security of sovereign countries and for their right to decide whom to accept there.

Regarding the war in Ukraine, he said: “We clearly condemn the war in Ukraine. It is obvious who the aggressor is and who the victim is.”

“Hungary wants peace in Ukraine and believes that a solution can be achieved at the negotiating table rather than on the battlefield,” he said.

“Hungary is the only NATO member state which has not delivered weapons to Ukraine because it stands for peace in the region,” he said.

The EU has adopted 11 sanctions packages against Moscow so far, “which has harmed the bloc’s economy more than Russia’s”, he said.

Szijjártó praised Guatemala as “a partner that thinks similarly to us, with which we can cooperate on a global level to protect democracy, Christianity and the values we see as important.”

International migration research network set up in Budapest

International migration research network set up in Budapest

A memorandum of understanding to set up an international migration research network was signed by five research institutes in Budapest on Thursday.

Hungary’s Migration Research Institute, the Center for Immigration Studies and NumbersUSA, the Israeli Immigration Policy Center, and the Observatoire de l’immigration et de la demographie aim to cooperate and “integrate their knowledge and skills in a network”, Viktor Marsai, head of the Hungarian institute, said.

The network will organise conferences and present publications in an effort to “counterbalance approaches to migration based solely on humanitarian aspects, which have in the past decades overpowered public opinion,” Marsai said.

Other aspects such as security and the economic and cultural impacts on recipient societies should also be considered in the discourse on migration, he said. Marsai also spoke about “the importance” of national sovereignty “so that states can determine whom they want to grant entry to and whom to deny this,” he added.

Read also:

  • PM Orbán: those support migration, who do not have children
  • Why do German pensioners flood Hungary? – Read more HERE

PM Orbán: those support migration, who do not have children – UPDATED

orbán october 23

The only remedy for migration is not to allow migrants into the country, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview to public radio on Friday.

Intelligence reports on migration “paint a dire picture” and strengthen the government’s resolve to “carry on with what we have been doing so far”, he said. Hungary was the first country which stated that “migration and terrorism go hand in hand”, and the reports also underpinned this view, he added.

“It is obvious that the migrants are increasingly aggressive and resort to violence against each other and the border guards,” he said. “They apply increasingly harsh methods to cross the border fence and this radicalisation is actually backed by the appointed activists of terror organisations,” he added.

He said the situation at the southern borders was becoming critical because it “is being shaped and organised” by people trained to do so.

Once the migrants allowed in, they could not be moved out

Migration, he said, was assessed differently by people without children as opposed to those who brought up children. The former, he added, considered migration to be a personal issue and thought about only whether they wanted to live in a country where migrants were around, while the latter also considered what type of country they wanted to leave behind to their children.

Orbán said the issue was not whether one would come across migrants in Budapest in the next 20-30 years but the fact that once migrants were allowed in, they could not be moved out. “And this means that our children, our grandchildren and several generations that follow will live in a world that will be unpleasant, uncertain, full or terrorist acts, crime and mini ghettos like Gaza,” he said, adding that this could still be prevented.

“Accepting illegal migrants and their presence in the country would lead to the people of that country not being able to live in security, peace or prosperity,” he said, adding that the issue required forging a broad international consensus.

Hungary’s “pro-migration” leftist opposition and Jobbik-Conservatives were undermining efforts to forge that broad consensus, he added.

“Accepting migrants would lead to not being able to live in safety, wellbeing and peace in Hungary, either,” he said.

Read also:

  • 25 Kurdish nationals found in Polish van in Hungary – HERE are the details and a video
  • ISIS, al-Kaida, Taliban and Hamas present in these Hungarian cities and villages near the border

This, he said, was already the situation in several western European countries that were once colonisers, and the 2015 wave of migration added to that, when even further migrants were allowed in. “In some countries, the local residents think that the country will never be the same as it was when they were born there,” he added.

We don’t want mini Gazas in the districts of Budapest, Orbán

Orbán said change was needed in Brussels regarding a migration policy that had “ruined the western member states” and which should not be forced on Hungary. The prime minister said:

“We don’t want mini Gazas in the districts of Budapest, terrorist attacks or gang wars.”

He said Hungarians should be thankful that they should not have to think about migration rules in a country where 10-20 percent of the residents were already migrants.

Hungary has a “tolerance offer” which is being communicated to the Germans, the French and the people in Brussels. “Hungary does not want to tell them how they go about their business but asks one thing: they should tolerate that Hungary acts differently,” Orbán said.

But, he said, people in Brussels wanted a unified policy on migration and to impose the same state of affairs that pertained in the western half of Europe across the entire bloc.

“They want to send their migrants here and force Hungary to build migrant ghettos, and they want to authorise Brussels to be able to send here any number of migrants when a state of emergency is cited,” he said.

Big fight with the EU

Orbán said this issue would be the focus of a “big fight” in the coming months as well as a key issue in next year’s European Parliament elections. Referring to a planned government public opinion survey, the prime minister said that if the government received confirmation of its policies in a National Consultation, then the Hungarian government would be able to “hold out”.

Hungary must protect its southern border and it must protect its position in Brussels, he said. Additionally, regulations on migration must be tightened in response to the increasing pressure of migration, he added. The current regulations were suitable to handle the 2015 migration crisis but since the pressure of migration was now increasing, stricter rules were needed, he said.

Orbán said the new asylum law must clearly define the legal grounds and the circle of people allowed to reside in Hungary, and the law must be strongly enforced, he said.
The prime minister said that unless the legal grounds and timeframe for foreign stays in Hungary were clearly defined, “they will steal the country from us”.

“Hungary belongs to Hungarians, including jobs here and the right to decide how to live,” he said.

Orbán said parliament would adopt the legislation by year-end.

Orbán praises national consultation

On the topic of the National Consultation public opinion surveys, Orbán said they served unity. “Power and the state as an entity in a community is defined by its ability to act in unison and to ensure that there is consensus on the most important issues, and that action is taken in view of the opinions formed in the process.”

Referendums, parliamentary elections and the National Consultation surveys “are the basis of that joint action, and strengthen it”, he said.

Regarding the EU, he said it had been created to ensure peace and prosperity in Europe. “But there is war now, and we lag behind in the competition with the large economic blocs of the world such as China, Asia and the US.”

“The Brussels leadership is making bad decisions that impact us all,” Orbán said, citing migration, the issue of Ukraine’s EU membership and the bloc’s relationship to the Russia-Ukraine war as examples.

European Union leaders “are doing the bidding of a globalist elite” rather than representing the will of Hungarians or European citizens, he said. “They are not our men.”

Orbán said the public rejected migration and war, wanted peace as well as a well-planned green transition that did not destroy industries, he said.

“The leadership in Brussels has been captured by a globalist elite and financial power interests,” he said, adding that they did not represent the interests of “the Hungarian, German, French or Italian people”.

Change, he said, was needed to ensure that Brussels bureaucrats “finally do what’s in the interst of European citizens” and not the EU itself, “because we are the union”.

Regarding the situation in Ukraine, Orbán said an agreement in Istanbul had been ready to sign but “the Ukrainians didn’t sign at the behest of the US, or at least that’s the diplomatic gossip.”

The war is ruining Europe

Europe’s stance during the 2015 Crimean crisis had been that the conflict must be contained “because an all-European conflict is not in our interest”. As the US entered the arena, a new approach replaced isolating the conflict with expanding it, he said. “That is not in the interest of Hungary or Europe,” he said.

“The war is ruining Europe,” he said. “What we are doing now is unsustainable and should not be continued.” Hungary, he added, did not support sending weapons to Ukraine and continued to oppose “sending Hungarian taxpayers’ money there”.

Orbán said Hungary was ready to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine but “funding the Ukrainian state and helping them to fight with weapons bought with our money” would have dire consequences for Hungary and would result in bankrupcy.

Regarding economic growth, Orbán said real wages had been growing since September. An OECD report said that real wages had been growing in Hungary since the second quarter, he said.

Orbán said the coming six weeks would be “difficult in politics”, with issues of the war and migration looming “amid attacks from Brussels”.

He said one of the most contentious issues was talks with Ukraine on EU membership, “which must not be undertaken”. “Ukraine is not in any way ready to conduct talks with a view to EU membership,” he said.

Orbán insisted that Hungary’s rejection of talks on Ukraine’s EU membership were tied to financial issues.

The EU “should give us what it owes us”, the prime minister said. The start of talks with Ukraine should not be connected to the monies Hungary is entitled to, he added.

Orbán: We must provide families with help through growth

The prime minister said the government had been determined this year to protect the value of pensions and jobs while curbing inflation to single digits year-end.

“We undertook three things …. we have fulfilled all three,” he said.

Orbán said economic growth would be restored in Hungary next year after having contracted to zero, “or even below that” this year.

“We must provide families with help through growth,” Orbán told public radio.

Growth, he added, meant job protection, higher wages and a higher standard of living.

Raising the minimum wage, the wages of skilled workers and the launch of CSOK Plusz, a revamped home purchase subsidy programme, “are matters for 2024” designed to boost Hungary, its economy and the situation of Hungarian families, he said.

Orbán wants to replace EU leadership

Orban said that if “certain economic indicators” were underperforming, “Brussels” could put forward “certain measures”, which, if rejected by a member state, would be enforced anyway because they had the means to do so. “But they have no idea about Hungarian life or the laws of the Hungarian economy”, he said. “We know precisely how to restore economic growth, reduce the public debt [and] the budget deficit…”

Orban said “Brussels” wanted Hungary to abolish its tax on excessive corporate profits, its subsidy system for household energy and its cap on loan interest rates. “But that would ruin the lives of Hungarian families,” he said.

“We will also have a big debate on economic policy issues”, the prime minister said. “The big issues will rather concern the January-September 2024 period, though they are also connected to the European elections due in June,” he added.

Orban said almost all issues could be agreed on with “a good, sensible, down-to-earth European leadership”, but the current leadership was lacking and “should be replaced”.

“A new, better and friendlier European Union leadership is needed in Brussels,” the prime minister said.

Hungarian inflation to fall to single digits in November at latest

Gergely Gulyás minister

nflation in Hungary will be pushed into the single digits by the end of November, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday.

The Central Statistical Office will have compiled October’s inflation data by Friday afternoon, which is expected to be around 10 percent, Gergely Gulyás told a government press conference.

Inflation will fall further in December and is expected to be just over 7 percent by year-end, he said.

Inflation, he said, had been “the greatest opponent” in the recent period, adding that the government would be able to meet its previous commitment to depress inflation to single digits in the promised timeframe.

Bill on digital citizenship to be submitted next week

The government plans to submit a bill to parliament on digital citizenship next week, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday.

The scheme is designed to allow citizens to conduct their businesses, show IDs and provide e-signatures using their mobile phones, Gergely Gulyás told a government press conference. Later on, the scheme will cover the payment of public utility bills, he added.

Gulyás said it was imperative for Hungary “to take a huge leap forward in digitalisation” in the interest of making its economy competitive in the medium to long term and simplifying the conduct of business and streamlining the state bureaucracy.

Migrants at border ‘increasingly aggressive’

According to intelligence reports, migrants are becoming increasingly aggressive at the southern border and border patrol officers often face life-threatening situations, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday.

Gergely Gulyás told a government press conference that while EU politicians’ statements on the issue “increasingly point in the direction of common sense”, the EU was “still trying” to render border protection “impossible legally and physically”.

“A prime example is ongoing court proceedings against Hungary because of its effective border protection, and Brussels probably wants to make Hungary pay a daily penalty for stopping migrants at the border,” he said.

The government found such attacks “unacceptable”, he said, adding there was a need for change in approach at the level of the EU and between member states, Gulyás added.

Fidesz MEP: Link between illegal migration, terrorism ‘crystal clear’

Migration refugee camp EU migration pact

The link between illegal migration and terrorism is “crystal clear”, yet many in Brussels “continue to repeat the absurd claim that immigration is a good thing and we need it,” Balázs Hidvéghi, an MEP of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz, said in a European Parliament plenary debate on Wednesday.

“Europe is in a crisis, but Brussels is not capable of providing tangible solutions,” Hidvéghi said.

“Just look at what’s happening on the streets of western Europe,” he said. “Islamist terrorists are murdering innocent people, mass demonstrations are being organised in support of a terrorist organisation and there’s a level of anti-Semitic incitement not seen since the second world war.”

Concerning the war in Ukraine, Hidvéghi said that though many in the EU “support the continuation of the war without any criticism, Brussels’s Ukraine strategy has failed”. He said that more than a year and a half into the war, the conflict was no closer to ending, while hundreds of thousands were dying on the battlefield.

The MEP cited “the chaos around the EU budget, the unwarranted withholding of EU funds and the deceitful ideological attacks against conservative governments” as more examples of Brussels’s inability to find solutions.

“Instead of policies that weaken Europe, we need a leadership that puts the interests of Europeans first,” Hidvéghi said. “It’s time for change in Brussels.”

VIDEO: 25 Kurdish nationals found in Polish van in Hungary

van migration nav

Customs officers have found 25 Kurdish nationals hiding in a van with Polish number plates on its way to Austria on motorway M1 near Ács in north-western Hungary, tax and customs authority NAV said on Wednesday.

The group of 12 men, 3 women and 10 children were jammed in the vehicle’s cargo department, the authority’s spokeswoman said.

The passengers could not present valid personal documents to stay in Hungary, Etelka Prantner Juhász said, adding that legal proceedings had been launched against them for illegal entry and against the driver on people smuggling charges.

Read also:

  • As we reported, a Hungarian woman’s dead body was found in an Italian hotel during renovation – read details HERE.
  • Budapest police banned a demonstration citing public safety – read more HERE.

ISIS, al-Kaida, Taliban and Hamas present in these Hungarian cities and villages near the border

Hungarian villages cities border Hamas ISIS al-Kaida Taliban

Migration carries a high risk of terrorism, made clear to everyone by the secret service report partly published earlier this week, Máté Kocsis, group leader of ruling Fidesz, told public radio on Sunday.

He confirmed before that ISIS, al-Kaida, Hamas and Taliban are all present in the Hungarian villages and cities of North Serbia, North Voivodina. Furthermore, the Taliban secret service placed under its control the activities of the Afghan human smugglers, Délhír, a Hungarian news outlet operating in Serbia, wrote.

The Hungarian secret service’s report makes it clear to the public that the situation is serious, Kocsis said, adding that “the migration practice” pursued by Brussels must be urgently eliminated, and action must be taken against terrorism by all means.

He said the network of people smugglers active along the Hungarian-Serbian border was controlled by terrorist organisations. It is no exaggeration, but a “harsh reality”, he added, that representatives of terrorist organisations known over the world are present at Hungary’s southern border, including persons related to the Taliban government who had carried out terrorist acts in the past. “Terrorists who came here from Kabul and Gaza decide whom, for how much money, and on what route should people smugglers take here,” he said.

Human trafficking income spent on terrorism

The report reveals that the income generated from human trafficking can be spent on financing assassinations and acts of terrorism, he said.

Kocsis pointed out that the physical border is under attack as illegal migrants are damaging the fence, and the border guards are also in danger, they are being shot at with guns, “and unfortunately the legal border protection is also under attack, because the Brussels leadership has brought up the migration pact again, in which they demand the mandatory redistribution of migrants and ‘the creation’ of migrant ghettos”.

He added that Hungary had resisted these policies in the past eight years and had been subjected to a lot of condemnatory statements and punishments because of its position, but changing this would be against Hungarian interests.

“If Brussels continues to insist on letting the migrants in and distributing and settling them, if they want to facilitate this process rather than preventing it, then we will go against them,” Kocsis said.

He said that answering questions of the soon to be launched next national consultation survey on migration would help Hungary take a clear position based on the opinion of the majority of people in debates, Kocsis said.

Former justice minister slams EU migration policy

The open-border strategy, the ideology-driven migration policy, causes chaos for our societies, Judit Varga, head of Parliament’s EU affairs committee, told conservative British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph.

Varga, who the paper notes is set to run in the European Parliament election next year as ruling Fidesz’s lead candidate, said the difference between asylum and migration must be carefully considered. “Asylum is a human right, but migration is not,” she said.

The paper quoted Varga as commending UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s “brave” plan to send migrants to Rwanda. Speaking on the plan, Varga said it was important to “think outside of the box”.

“We have to regain our sovereignty,” the former justice minister told the paper. “At the end of the day, it is the strong nations who make up this European Union, it’s not the European institutions,” she said.

On the matter of the border fence, she told the paper “it cost 1.7 billion euros and only one per cent reimbursed by the EU. It’s not right. We are protecting the whole of Schengen”.

German-Franco axis that wants to erode the individual identities of the member nations

The Hungarian government has a very firm stance on migration, and, along with Hungarian society, it says ‘no’ to the question of ‘Do you agree to live with those masses of foreign and culturally foreign people?’, Varga told the paper.

She also spoke out against what she deems “woke culture”, and said “the fundament of today’s exaggerated wokeism is the falling apart of the texture of society, which is the family, and the model of the family.”

Varga said these issues would be at the core of the 2024 EU elections. The paper quoted her as describing the elections as a war between the “politically correct elite” and those who are not afraid to stand up for common sense.

Without Britain, she added, the EU now faces a German-Franco axis that wants to erode the individual identities of the member nations.

Why do German pensioners flood Hungary? – VIDEO

German pensioners

Germans have been moving to Hungary for quite a while now. Historically, there have been multiple bigger waves of Germans coming to live in our country. These days, the number of nationalities are much lower than in those historical times.

According to the Central Statistical Office, there are currently 22,310 German citizens living in Hungary. A report made by the Hungarian Deutsche Welle lets us take a peek into the lives of these Germans who are currently living in Hungary.

Why Hungary?

The most common scenario is the German retirees moving to Hungary to live out their pensions here. Since the cost of living is much lower here in Hungary, even with the exorbitant inflation lately, they prefer our country. They still come out in a more financially beneficial situation than if they stayed in Germany. Instead of the expensive German rent prices, they buy a house here. The Hungarian overhead cut is a fifth of what the Germans have to pay.

All in all, it sounds logical that the retired Germans would choose to stay in Hungary. The area around Lake Balaton is the most preferred by them, near one of the popular summer vacation spots those Germans still in the workforce like to visit in the summer.

There are other aspects that contribute to these migrating patterns. One of such is the political trajectory of the countries. Some Germans are against their country’s migration politics or the measures taken against the coronavirus and opt to move to a place more aligned to their political values. (Read more about the Hungarian migration policy HERE.)

The Hungarian crew of the Deutsche Welle interviewed some Germans who have been living in Hungary for quite a while now.

Lives of the expats

One of them is Herbert. He has lived in Nemesvita for the last 16 years. He has established a Westernpark and managed to learn Hungarian. He talks about life in Hungarian while feeding his animals. He comments that he has found a real home here and how he loves Hungarians, although if he knew back then how complicated it is to start a business here, he probably wouldn’t have tried his hand at it.

Angela and Holm are retirees and were oscillating between Hungary and South America. In the end, they bought a house in the Lake Balaton area. They say they haven’t regretted their choice.

“We already are half-Hungarians. At least in our hearts, we are for sure.” They say.

Drawbacks of the plan

Surprisingly, the inflation doesn’t affect expats as much as one would expect, since their income is higher than those of the Hungarians. Since their house is much cheaper here, they can afford to spend more money on food and necessary items. Read more about the Hungarian prices HERE.

They admit though that there are disadvantages. The main problem is the language barrier they encounter in their official dealings. One of the biggest issue is in the healthcare system, when there aren’t any people who speak German or English. This is a real problem, especially when trying to call an ambulance. For this reason, many German retirees move back sooner or later to Germany. Additionally, the younger Germans are less inclined to move to Hungary because of the low wages and the above mentioned other concerns.

Here is DW’s video:

Government to ask Hungarians again about illegal migration

Iranian Christian Hungary migration border control illegal entrants europe

The government’s next National Consultation survey to be launched in the near future will again address the issue of migration, Zoltán Kovács, the state secretary for government communications and international relations, said on Thursday.

The EU’s approach to illegal migration has not changed since 2015 while the issue has become particularly topical now “when a new migration package has been pushed through and adopted in Brussels” despite the fact that arranging the movement of migrants is now in the hands of radical groups…,” Kovács said in a video posted on Facebook.

The new migration pact includes renewed provisions on the migrant redistribution mechanism proposed earlier and provisions on new procedures, he said. New rules would involve having to receive illegal migrants before an assessment is conducted on their asylum request, he added.

“This would lead to the emergence of migrant ghettos at places where such ghettos have never existed before, something that we have consistently rejected,” Kovács said, reiterating the government’s position that “illegal migrants must not be allowed to enter Hungary”, but “they must be stopped at the border”.

“We need very tight, clear-cut and rigorous border control to prevent people from entering European territory without getting checked first,” he added and asked Hungarians to tell their opinion on the matter in the survey.

Read also:

  • Neighbouring country hermetically closed Schengen border! – Read more HERE
  • Report on migration–terrorism connection made public in Hungary – Details in THIS article

Dozens of illegal migrants found in Budapest’s Castle District

Police Rwandan man dangerous Budapest

A Turkish and a Georgian man have been arrested on the basis of a court order proposed by the prosecutors of the Budapest 1st and 12th districts for managing accomodation for dozens of illegal migrants in Budapest, the Budapest Public Prosecutor’s Office said on Friday.

Some 65 people were going to be smuggled to Germany via Budapest by an international human smuggling ring, the statement said. A 26 year-old Turkish citizen and 32 year-old Georgian citizen were involved in managing accommodation in Budapest’s 1st district (Castle District), it added.

The 65 illegal migrants who later claimed to be Turkish and Afghan citizens were initially staying in two flats in Budapest’s 1st district in early October and the Turkish man provided them with food. They said the Turkish man had taken away their phones and the Georgian man locked them in the flat so they were unable to leave.

During police action at the site on October 9, the two men tried to flee and the Georgian man who managed to escape by car was later arrested in the 8th district.

Read also:

  • Neighbouring country hermetically closed Schengen border! – Read more HERE

Report on migration–terrorism connection made public in Hungary

terrorism migration report

The secret service report on the connection between migration and terrorism has been made public, Máté Kocsis, group leader of ruling Fidesz, said on Facebook on Thursday, adding that the report “clearly shows the risk the irresponsible migration policy of Brussels poses to the security of Europe”.

Kocsis said that well-known terrorist organisations such as ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Hamas were already present on the Serbian-Hungarian border.

He added that more and more information about terrorist acts targeting Europe was being generated in the region.

Kocsis also said the Taliban are also present in Vojvodina, and that many people smugglers were related to Afghan Taliban government leaders and members of the Haqqani terrorist group linked to them.

He said that acts of violence and the use of weapons had become regular occurrences at the border.

“We must act against terrorism by all means! The EU must support Hungarian border protection! We need a new migration policy in Brussels!” said Kocsis, who also shared the link to the secret service report.

Read more:

Neighbouring country hermetically closed Schengen border!

Slovakia Hungary border Robert Fico

Slovakia elected a new government a couple of weeks ago, and Robert Fico, the leader of the Direction – Social Democracy (Smer), who secured victory in the elections with promises of stricter border control, appears committed to his political agenda. He has begun implementing hermetically sealed Schengen borders on the Hungarian border. He claims this is in response to the constant flow of migrants into Slovakia.

According to parameter.sk, Fico’s new Interior Minister, Matúš Šutaj Eštok, intends to attempt the seemingly impossible by imposing strict border closures on the Hungarian-Slovakian border. A local Hungarian online news outlet suggests that Fico himself may detain some illegal migrants at the Hungarian-Slovakian border this week as part of a well-conceived PR campaign.

Previously, Fico talked about security concerns in the wake of the recent Israel-Palestine conflict in the Middle East. He believes that this armed conflict will lead to an unstoppable wave of illegal migration to Europe, which must be intercepted, at least at the Slovakian borders.

Much like PM Viktor Orbán in 2018, Fico’s election campaign focused on illegal migration and how he would protect the Slovakian people from it. Paraméter wrote that the 650-kilometre-long border could not be entirely sealed, even if the entire army and police were stationed there. The news outlet also pointed out that even if authorities expelled illegal migrants to Hungary, they would likely return, similar to the situation in Northern Serbia, where armed gangs frequently challenge local authorities and each other in areas inhabited by indigenous Hungarian communities. The Hungarian government has not issued a statement yet regarding the potential closure of the Hungarian-Slovakian border.

The new Slovak government and Mr Matus:

Slovakian army and police at the border

The Slovakian army and police closed the Hungarian-Slovakian green border at 7 pm yesterday. According to parameter.sk, the Slovakian authorities deployed drones, dogs, horses, thermal cameras, and military vehicles to the border. They even stationed a water cannon at the Rajka border crossing.

According to the Interior Minister, they plan to enhance border control in areas where the highest numbers of migrants have entered in recent months. Hungarian authorities have provided their Slovakian counterparts with this information. Additionally, army units will be dispatched to the border to assist the police. Neither Fico nor his Interior Minister have provided specific numbers, so the extent of the reinforcement remains uncertain.

Fico stressed their intention to discourage the organisers of illegal migration and demonstrate Slovakia’s ability to protect its territory from illegal migrants.

HERE we previously reported on the introduction of Slovakian border control several weeks ago. In THIS article, you can read about another Schengen country, Slovenia, which has taken similar measures.

 

Secret Hungarian report about terrorism, migration to be published

Migration refugee camp EU migration pact

Máté Kocsis, group leader of ruling Fidesz, on Monday proposed in parliament’s national security committee that a report assessing the connection between illegal migration and terrorism, compiled by the secret services, should be made public.

The body supported the proposal and the document will soon be published, Kocsis said on Facebook. Kocsis said the situation along Hungary’s southern border with Serbia “clearly shows how Brussels’s irresponsible migration policy has increased the threat of terrorism” and noted “the increasing appearance of weapons” in the area. Violent, armed attacks compromising the security of border control staff “have become a daily occurence,” he insisted.

“We will use every facility against terrorism!” Kocsis said in his post. Here it is:

Read also:

  • Hamas present in Hungary: their agent worked from Budapest – Read more HERE
  • Collapsing Schengen: strict control at Hungarian Schengen border remains in effect longer – Details in THIS article

Hungary vehemently against the EU’s Migration Pact

EU migration pact

Protecting the community’s external borders is “key for the debate on migration” within the European Union, but “the EU’s concept is not comprehensive”, it cannot be used to reduce the number of migrants entering Europe, János Boka, Hungary’s EU affairs minister, said in an interview published online by German daily Die Welt on Friday.

According to Boka, the EU’s position was getting closer to that of the Hungarian government “but debates are still not aimed at granting entry to those people only that have the right to enter Europe”.

Boka said eliminating the networks of human traffickers called for bilateral agreements with countries in Africa and the Middle East under which they would accommodate the illegal migrants returned from Europe.

Boka said that the Visegrád Group – Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland – shared a position on migration, adding that other countries such as Austria and Denmark that “offer solutions similar to those of Hungary”.

“The position of the German government is vastly different, however,” Boka said. “The Germans consider the Migration Pact as the solution to the problem, but it will probably only increase the tension,” he said. “A system in which anybody entering Europe is allowed to stay will be a strong incentive to many more people to cone to Europe,” said Boka.

Asked about the EU procedure against Hungary concerning the rule of law, the minister said “Hungary has a constructive approach at the talks not because the other side’s arguments are legitimate but because in the current geopolitical situation it is important to demonstrate European unity.” HERE you may find our migration archive.

Read also:

Hamas, ISIS, Al-Kaida terrorists, arms come to Hungary

Iranian Christian Hungary migration border control illegal entrants europe

A report has been prepared by the intelligence services concerning the serious consequences of migration which should be made available to all Hungarians, the group leader of ruling Fidesz said in Ásotthalom, near the Serbian border, on Thursday.

“Everybody should see what is going on as regards migration and the terrorist threats posed to Hungary and to the whole continent,” Máté Kocsis said, adding that he would initiate releasing the report to the public.

Bence Rétvári, a state secretary of the interior ministry, cautioned about the activities of people-smuggling networks, which he said were becoming “more and more organised”. “Only this year, they have earned more than one billion euros through their business,” he said.

In a post published later, Kocsis said that terrorists and arms of Hamas, ISIS and Al-Kaida arrive in Hungary on different migrant routes. Therefore, those protecting the Southern borders are real heroes.

Read also: