migration

Slovak foreign minister Miroslav Wlachovsky held talks in Budapest

Miroslav Wlachovsky

Hungary’s government sees developing the ties between Hungary and Slovakia as a priority, Foreign Minister Péter Szjjártó said on Monday, after meeting his Slovak counterpart, Miroslav Wlachovsky, in Budapest on Monday.

Hungary has the longest border and the liveliest trade with Slovakia among its neighbouring countries, Szjjártó told a joint press conference after the meeting. A large group of ethnic Hungarians also live in Slovakia, he added.

This year, the number of border crossings between the two countries will grow to 40 from 22 in 2010, he said.

Central European countries are facing similar challenges in security, energy supplies and migration, Szjjártó said.

Hungary is participating in the joint defence of Slovak air space from July 1, a rotating task among central European countries, he said. “The greater the security of Slovakia, the safer Hungary is, and vice versa,” he said.

Regarding tackling the energy crisis, Hungary and Slovakia are both members of the European nuclear coalition, and have taken a stance against “the discrimination against cheap, safe and sustainable energy production using nuclear energy”, and insisted that member states’ energy mix should remain a national competency, he said.

Hungary and Slovakia have also linked their electricity networks, he said.

Noting that an exemption from EU sanctions enabling Slovak energy provider Slovnaft to sell Russian crude in Czechia will expire at the end of 2023, Szjjártó said Slovnaft has made “enormous investments to the tune of 100 millon euros” to be able to work with materials other than Russian crude. However, the transition will need another year, he said. “We are asking the EU to extend the exemption by another year,” Szijjarto said.

Meanwhile, Croatia has raised transit fees for energy resources to four times the market price, Szjjártó said. Since the route is part of an alternative route to direct imports from Russia for the region, the move is a great burden on Hungarian and Slovak energy supplies and makes energy diversification harder, he said.

“We think that it is not honourable to turn high profits in times of war, especially if the measures risk the energy security of other countries,” he said.

Regarding migration, Szjjártó said Hungary continued to reject mandatory resettlement quotas proposed by the EU.

At the same time, it sees its efforts in border protection as an act of solidarity, he said. “Hungary has spent tens or hundreds of billions of forints on protecting the EU’s external borders, and has received practically no compensation from Brussels,” he said.

Slovakia, on the other hand, has sent policemen and border patrol officers to help Hungary’s border protection, he said. Talks on joint patrols against people smugglers and illegal entrants are also under way, he said.

Responding to a question from journalists, Szijjarto wished French law enforcement success in restoring law and order in the country, recently shaken by countrywide protests.

At the same time, he said the protests had made it clear “that the European dream of the integration of people arriving from other cultures, often illegally and by violent means, has become an illusion,” he said.

“That is why we should concentrate on stopping migration rather than inspiring and encouraging it,” he said.

On another topic, Szjjártó said Ukraine’s NATO integration was “out of the question” until it was at war. “This is something my foreign minister colleagues usually admit at bilateral or closed-door meetings, even though other things are said publicly,” he said.

Government: Hungary will not allow the EU to set up “migrant ghettos”

Hungarians government migrant ghettos

The EU’s revived plan of setting up “migrant ghettos” goes against the will of the Hungarian people and Hungary’s constitutional system, Zoltán Kovács, the state secretary for international relations at the Prime Minister’s Office, told public broadcaster Kossuth Radio on Sunday.

He noted that a proposal put forward by Brussels at the peak of a migration wave in 2015 had now been revisited. “Instead of stopping migration, the European Commission now wants to manage it, and it has given rise to a new terminology of migrant ghettos. It means setting up large camps somewhere along the southern borders where Hungary would be required to provide for the migrants until their asylum applications are processed. Migrants whose applications have not been processed over the course of 12 weeks will have to be allowed to travel on,” said Kovács.

The Hungarian government continues to firmly oppose the EU’s migrant redistribution quotas, respecting the result of a national consultation survey and a referendum held on the matter, and the provisions of Hungary’s fundamental law, he said. Asked whether Hungary and Poland could prevent the implementation of the plan, Kovács said decisions on migration can only be taken “in a unanimous vote with a full consensus”.

In connection with the EU’s requirement of additional payments to the common budget by member states, the state secretary said “it has become obvious that the 2021-2027 financial framework has become questionable just in the matter of two years and now the question is whether the community is heading towards bankruptcy”.

Orbán to EU: Where is the money?

Viktor Orbán prime minister

Hungary wants to know who is responsible for the European Union having been “pushed to the brink of bankruptcy”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Brussels on Thursday.

“Everyone has a single question in Brussels right now: where has the money gone?” Orbán said in a video on Facebook ahead of a summit of EU leaders.

He said the European Commission had proposed an amendment to the EU budget, “and is requesting hundreds of billions more in contributions from member states”.

The prime minister said this raised the question of “how is it that the European Union could be pushed to the brink of bankruptcy”.

“Where has the money gone?” – Orbán asks in his Facebook post:

Detailing the EC’s amendment proposal, Orbán noted that member states were being asked to contribute another EUR 50 billion to the budget “so that they can give it to Ukraine even though they can’t account for the money we’ve already contributed”.

“They want a lot of money from member states so that they can cover the interests on earlier EU loans,” the prime minister said. “These are the loans from which Poland and Hungary have yet to receive a single penny.”

Orbán said it was “unserious” of the EU to “want more money for migration, though not for border protection, but to bring migrants in”.

“And of course, they haven’t forgotten about themselves, either,” he said. “They’re asking for billions of euros to raise the salaries of the Brussels bureaucrats.”

Hungary’s position is clear, Orbán said. “First and foremost we want to know what all that money we have contributed so far has been spent on,” he said. “And then we want an answer to the question of who is responsible for the European Union being pushed to the brink of bankruptcy.”

Orbán: Brussels budget proposal lacks seriousness, unsuitable for debate

Viktor Orbán Huxit EU

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held talks on Tuesday with Charles Michel, president of the European Council, and the prime ministers of Croatia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Sweden, Orbán’s press chief said.

At the talks Orbán rejected an EU budget proposal which promotes migration and “an increase in Brussels bureaucracy”.

Orbán also said that the European Commission’s budget amendment proposal in its current form “lacks seriousness” and was “unsuitable for debate”.

According to a statement released after the video conference, Brussels would provide EUR 50 billion in support to Ukraine, while the utilisation of EU resources provided since the start of the war “is still unclear”. Brussels was demanding further resources from member states in order to cover the deficit caused in the EU budget by rising interest rates, while the money due to Hungary and Poland from a previous joint loan was still being held back, the statement said.

“Another problem is that the EC budget proposal would further bloat Brussels bureaucracy,” it added.

The Hungarian government argues that instead of stopping illegal migration, Brussels would spend further billions on supporting the inflow of illegal migrants to Europe, the statement said. Orbán underlined Hungary’s position that the solution to illegal migration would be for any person submitting an entry request to the EU to stay beyond European borders while the request is assessed.

Hungarian justice minister: Migration policy to be big element of EU presidency

judit varga in luxemburg

The handling of migration challenges will form an important part of the EU presidency of Spain, Belgium and Hungary starting in July, Judit Varga, the minister of justice, said on Tuesday in Luxembourg. Also the issues of human trafficking, security policy, demography, and anti-Semitism will form key planks of the trio programme, she said.

It has been clear during preparations for the trio presidency that the three member states have put “a very good working plan on the table” in the interest of preserving Europe’s global competitiveness and in terms of security policy while coping with emerging challenges, Varga said as she arrived at the meeting of the EU ministers responsible for EU affairs.

The future of cohesion policy is also a major policy area, she said, and Hungary will emphasise the principle of “upward convergence” whereby less developed countries can catch up with developed ones.

Varga said that Hungary was cooperating with its partners continuously, adding that Hungary assuming the presidency next year would coincide with the anniversary of the Hungarian government’s being in office since 2010, which Varga called “political and government stability and continuity”.

PM Orbán knows the solution to migration

Viktor Orbán Russia NATO secret plan PM Orbán

Illegal migration could be resolved but “the European Union is reluctant to take that course”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at a press briefing held together with his Visegrád Group counterparts in Bratislava on Monday.

“The Hungarian position is unchanged: once a request is filed to enter the EU, the applicant must physically stay outside the European borders until their application is evaluated,” Orbán said.

“If we declared that only those persons whose procedures are completed and to whom a member state has granted entry can enter the EU, the problem would be over,” Orbán said.

The EU is reluctant to take that step, and “we need to continue fighting to that end”, Orbán said.

Concerning a budget change proposal by the European Commission, Orbán said the funds that would be allocated to fighting illegal migration were “ridiculously low”. He said the proposal, in its current form, was “ridiculous and unfit for discussion”, and called for another EC proposal “that could be taken seriously”.

Apart from illegal migration, participants in the V4 meeting also discussed the situation in Ukraine, issues around the Western Balkans and the EU’s green agreement.

Orbán’s Facebook post on the matter: he wrote “migrants have to be kept outside”:

Concerning the Western Balkans, Orbán said countries in the region shared the position that the region’s European integration should  be accelerated. Though “Ukraine currently is largely in the focus”, other problems should not be neglected such as “growing tensions in the Balkans that require refined and complex solutions”, Orbán said, adding that “the EU’s treatment of those problems has been laden with mistakes and failures”. He called for a European Balkans policy that “offers a clear perspective of membership” to peoples in the region. He said “an impression that Ukraine could sooner become an EU member than countries that have been candidates for years must be prevented”.

Orbán welcomed the Serbian authorities’ decision to release three Kosovan police officers at his request, and said he was glad that “rapidly increasing tension could be somewhat mitigated”.

Concerning the EU’s green deal and its impacts on competitiveness, Orbán highlighted the significance of a green transition, but called for an implementation that would “not compromise the competitiveness of Hungary and that of central Europe”. He called for a “green transition together with industry but not without industry and especially not against industry.”

Participants in the meeting reviewed the war situation in Ukraine, Orbán said, but added that “the goal is not to have this issue in the focus of the cooperation”. Hungary shares concerns over grain imports from Ukraine, he said. “We support that the grain should reach destinations outside Europe, but we do not support that the grain should end up for example in Hungary and completely destroy the Hungarian grain markets,” he said.

The Bratislava meeting was one of the closing events of the Slovak V4 presidency. The presidency will be taken over by Czechia in July.

Hungary wants Brussels to clarify need for more money from member states

European Union

Hungary wants the European Commission to clarify why member states are being asked to make more financial contributions to Ukraine, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday.

Responding to a European Commission proposal for member states to contribute another EUR 50 billion in support for Ukraine, Gergely Gulyás told a regular government press briefing that the government wanted to know whether the EC had reviewed why it had exceeded its planned spending and what sort of resources it had utilised differently than originally planned.

The additional contribution is especially “comical” in the case of member states that have yet to receive their share of funds from the new seven-year budget, such as Hungary and Poland, Gulyás said.

Asked if he believed that the reason why Brussels was not approving the funds for Hungary was because it had promised that money to Ukraine, Gulyás said the “cabinet can imagine anything given the commission’s political resistance against Hungary“.

Hungarian government rejects any migrant quotas

“We reject all kinds of migrant quotas,” the head of the Prime Minister’s Office told a regular press briefing on Thursday.

Gergely Gulyás, answering a question, said this approach was a “political obligation” towards voters, since “unlike other EU members, the Hungarian government asked voters if they wanted to see migration, distribution mechanisms or accommodation of migrants”.

Some 3.4 million people “clearly said they did not want to make Hungary a migrant destination in any way,” Gulyás insisted . “This is an order for the government to be met in all circumstances,” he added.

Hungarian FM: Brussels migration policies creating difficulties for Europeans

Szijjártó Tunisia

Brussels “should immediately stop its aggressive pro-migration policies because they are creating an extremely difficult situation” for European and north African countries, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday, after a meeting of the Hungary-Tunisia mixed committee.

The ministry cited Szijjártó telling a joint press conference with Tunisian counterpart Nabil Ammar that Europe was simultaneously faced with two serious security challenges: the war to the east and waves of migration from the south.

He said it was high time to “turn up the volume in the pro-peace camp” because “failing to do that, louder pro-war voices might … appear to be in the majority, and this is not the case”.

Szijjártó talked about the dramatic increase in food prices and a severe grain supply crisis in Tunisia and other parts of the world. He said the effects of the armed conflict in Ukraine could destabilise an already fragile region and result in further security challenges.

“Looking beyond the European or transatlantic bubble … we see that the majority of countries in the world want peace,” he said. “And we’re glad to welcome the foreign minister of a country today that, like Hungary, is also part of the global pro-peace majority.”

He said Hungary was in a special situation due to its geographical location, being subject to the dual pressure of the war to the east and migratory waves from the south.

“Unfortunately, we are witnessing migration gaining fresh impetus because the decision in Brussels which forced a mandatory resettlement quota on Europe is essentially an invitation to migrants,” he said. This, he added, created “an extremely difficult situation” not only for European countries but also for north African countries along migrant routes, because they are under the threat of being “overrun” by the migrants who “show no respect for their sovereignty and legal regulations”.

He called for greater support from Brussels for the protection of Tunisia’s borders, adding that if necessary, Hungary was willing to offer this bilaterally.

Szijjártó noted that trade between Hungary and Tunisia hit a record high of EUR 260 million last year, while so far this year it has increased by 22 percent. Tunisia presents Hungarian companies with great opportunities, and their products are much sought after, he said, noting the areas of agriculture and the food industry, medical equipment and water management.

He announced that starting from the next academic year, Hungary will offer 250 scholarships to Tunisian students as against the current 200, in response to great demand.

The ministry said that Szijjártó told a Hungary-Tunisia business forum that thanks to a reliable partnership between the two countries, all the conditions are set for companies to utilise the opportunities in cooperation. He added that Hungary and Tunisia maintained reliable and predictable cooperation based on mutual respect.

There are no open issues or disputes in bilateral political relations, either, he said.

“We Hungarians, stayed away in the last few years from the European Union’s attempts to pressure Tunisia into changes in its domestic politics,” he said. Hungary was never part of the “mainstream political action” that questioned the democratic system in Tunisia, he added.

“Our approach in every situation was that Tunisians are mature enough to decide what’s good for them,” he said. “If they decided in a certain way, then our job is only to respect that, the same way they respect our decisions,” he added.

Szijjártó said that opportunities that exist for Hungarian and Tunisian companies open further perspectives in bilateral ties and they demonstrate the level of diversification in the Hungarian economy. He highlighted flagship projects that could encourage more companies to get involved. He welcomed the construction of a premix plant in Tunisia, and another Hungarian company’s plan to build a camel milk processing plant in Tunisia representing a value of 8 million euros.

He said there was strong interest for Hungarian agricultural and food products, partly thanks to the fact that Hungary followed the strictest regulations in Europe in this field.

Hungarian companies have the opportunity to be involved in infrastructure development in Tunisia, such as in railway construction, and high-level Hungarian water management technologies are also sought after in Tunisia, he said.

Even the majority of left-wing Hungarians reject the new migrant quota

The overwhelming majority, 77 percent of Hungarians reject the European Union’s scheme to send immigrants to Hungary, including 58 percent of leftist respondents, the NézÅ‘pont Institute said in a survey published on Monday.

In the survey, Nézőpont asked 1,000 people by phone between June 12 and 14 on a negotiating position the European Council adopted on June 8, which will form the basis of negotiations with the European Parliament on regulating immigration and asylum procedures in the bloc. Hungary voted against the position.

NézÅ‘pont said that under the proposed regulation, Hungary would have to accept “8,500 illegal immigrants every year, equivalent to about 30 percent of all resettled immigrants”.

In the poll, 77 percent of respondents said the EU should not send asylum seekers to Hungary without the country’s approval. Almost all, 93 percent of pro-government voters and 58 percent of leftist voters rejected the mandatory resettlement quota scheme, while 32 percent said they were acceptable, NézÅ‘pont added.

As we wrote before, the Hungarian government paves the way for hundreds of thousands of guest workers, details HERE.

Orbán: Europe treats me as a black sheep for representing freedom

orbán in brussels

Hungary’s government is democratic and is acting in line with the will of the people, while Brussels exercises “Soviet-style leadership”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview with Italian daily Libero.

Hungary is “a black sheep in the eyes of the European Union, but this isn’t a problem for us Hungarians”, Orbán said in the interview published on Friday. “We’ve always been outside the choir, even when we were behind the Iron Curtain during the time of the Soviet Union and were the first ones fighting for freedom”, he said.

Orbán, who gave the interview to Libero on the sidelines of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s memorial service earlier this week, told the paper that he wanted to use the interview to defend his friend from “attacks from the left after his death”.

Orbán said he had been friends with Berlusconi since the autumn of 1993 when the businessman reached out to him because he wanted to enter politics. He noted that Berlusconi established relationships with the political leaders he found most interesting so he could learn from them.

“At first I had my reservations, but he threw me a gourmet bait by inviting me to AC Milan’s sports centre in Milanello, promising me lunch with Van Baten and Capello,” the prime minister said.

He recalled that Berlusconi had told him that he wanted to learn from politicians who “think outside the box”.

Orbán said he and Berlusconi had shared similar opinions about the war in Ukraine and Europe, which he said had brought down Berlusconi’s government “because he refused to bow to the German and Dutch rules…”

He said anyone whose opinion on the Ukraine war differed from that of US President Joe Biden was branded a “Putinist”. Orbán added that he viewed the situation like Pope Francis, “but our word is in the minority in Europe”.

While Italy is far from the Ukrainian border “and can only feel the heat of the bombings from a distance, Hungary can burn”, Orbán said.

He said there was little chance for peace because the West, “or I should say the United States wants to defeat Russia, and considers Ukraine a tool to accomplish that”. Meanwhile, Europe, with the exception of Hungary, is silent because no one wants to challenge Washington, he insisted. “Nevertheless, the silent majority agrees with me, and I am convinced that the mood will change within a few months,” Orbán said. “I can already see the first signs of that.”

“Europe sees me as a black sheep because I represent freedom and peace,” Orbán said. Budapest is a democracy, and the government adheres to the will of the people, while Brussels is characterised by “Soviet-style leadership”, he added.

The prime minister warned that Europe would be a loser if it refused to change.

Berlusconi tried to change Europe but failed against Brussels, “against which everyone fails, with the exception of Berlin and The Hague”, he said.

“I’m also trying [to change Europe], and perhaps I’ll have more luck,” Orbán said.

The prime minister vowed to stay in Europe because “I believe in the dream and want to make it a reality, ending the current nightmare”.

Orbán said that instead of the way the current European Parliament operates, national delegations should represent the member states, while the European Commission, which, he said exercised “too much power”, should keep in line with the decisions of the European Council that represents the votes of European citizens.

“In a year’s time, the composition of the European majority will have changed,” he said, referring to the EP elections in 2024.

On the topic of migration, Orbán said the Hungarian government wanted Europe to reject illegal migration and each member state should be free to decide on its own migration policy.

Orbán: ‘Soros empire’ behind EU migrant quota

orbán in tirana albania

In an interview to public radio, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has accused the “Soros empire” of being behind the “coup-like” EU decision on mandatory migrant quotas, saying the decision had been “forced down the throats of the majority of Europeans”.

In the interview recorded on Thursday, he said it had seemed that decision-makers in Brussels had been persuaded to shift from an insistence on mandatory quotas to border protection as there was a realisation that the solution lay in protecting the external borders of Europe rather than distributing migrants.

“But from time to time a quick decision is made in a coup-like way that states that whichever country does not allow migrants in will be forced to do so,” Orbán said, adding that it was not by chance this coincided with George Soros handing over “control of his empire to his son just a few days ago”. (We wrote about this in more detail HERE.) His son, he added, had said he wanted to get more directly involved in politics in America and Europe. “Now the Soros empire has struck back,” he added.

Orbán: Government ready with economic protection action plan

The government is ready with an economic protection action plan aimed at counterbalancing “bad decisions” made in Brussels, PM Viktor Orbán said in an interview to public radio on Friday, adding that the measures will be unveiled next week.

The prime minister slammed the EU for introducing costs on fuels and packaging, saying the new measures would stoke inflation. Noting that the EU had control over certain types of tax on environmental grounds, he said Hungary was obliged to increase excise tax on petrol and diesel. Also, packaging materials and bottles must be registered and tracked, adding to expenses and the cost of waste processing.

He also urged Hungarians to keep their savings in state bonds. “In times of war, people who keep their savings in government bonds and treasury bills help the country.” Also, they received a higher interest rate than by parking their money in the bank, he said. In addition to offering high interest on government bonds, a levy on bank savings will apply as long as the war lasts as a temporary measure, he said.

Fidesz: Migrant quotas are unacceptable for Hungary

Shootout migrants Hungarian town Serbia

Hungary regards the re-emergence of the EU’s mandatory migrant redistribution quotas and the planned “fining” of member states that refuse to accommodate migrants “unacceptable”, Kinga Gál, an MEP of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz, said in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

Commenting on the adoption in Brussels last week of a general position on a migration reform with a simple majority in what she termed a “coup”, Kinga Gál told MTI that the new migrant quota system would serve as “an invitation” for migrants to head to Europe, knowing they would be redistributed among member states instead of being sent back to their country of origin.

“Instead of focusing on the mandatory quotas, the EU must openly declare that illegal migration must be stopped and the bloc’s external borders strengthened,” Gál said.

The EU, she added, had not “learned anything from the mistakes it had made ever since the 2015 migration crisis. Hungary will fight against the migrant redistribution quotas with all possible means, taking into account the fact that Hungarians stated in a national referendum their rejection of the accommodation of illegal migrants,” she said.

Featured image: illustration

More and more foreign workers are flooding Hungary

The number of foreign nationals residing in Hungary has been steadily increasing over the past decade. As of January, foreign nationals accounted for 2.3 percent of the country’s population.

Neighbouring countries’ nationals constituted half of the foreign population in 2013. However, their share has declined and stabilised at around 35-37 percent since 2019. In January, approximately two-thirds of foreigners in Hungary were European citizens. The remaining 29 percent came from Asia, 4 percent from Africa and 3.4 percent from the Americas, writes Portfolio.

Where do they come from?

Official figures show that the number of foreign workers in Hungary increased by 14 percent. It was up to 81,000 in the previous year. Ukrainian workers accounted for the largest increase, with 5,200 more workers arriving in one year.

Additionally, the analysis by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) indicates that there is a slight shift in nationalities, with an increase in employees from non-EU countries such as the Philippines and India. This change is attributed to the relaxation of admission conditions for workers from several non-EU countries.

Foreign migratory trend

At the beginning of 2019, Hungarian companies employed approximately 50,000 foreign workers. This number rose to 60,000 by the end of that year, before seeing a decline during the Covid crisis. However, the temporary decline was soon followed by a resumption of the trend of growth in foreign employment.

Experts believe that the trend of increased influx of foreign workers and residents will persist. The government argues that the availability of sufficient workforce, which requires the employment of guest workers at least on a temporary basis, is crucial to maintain and develop investments and ensure competitiveness.

Way for development or dead end?

Meeting the above-mentioned labour needs is essential to retain Hungarian jobs and attract foreign investment to the country. Although some regions have extremely low unemployment rates, new labour sources are required to support investments and draw in foreign investors. This has to be done, as the existing reserves of Hungarian workers are insufficient.

But some analysts argue that increasing the labour force may not be the best way for a country to catch up.

“The question arises whether extensive growth based on attracting additional labour is the right way for the Hungarian economy to catch up. Wouldn’t it be better to take advantage of the constraints of labour scarcity to move on and start to lead the country towards higher value-added, more efficient, less labour-intensive sectors?”

  • asks Orsolya Nyeste, chief economist at Erste Bank.

She further added, that by investing in human capital, improving education and healthcare, we would be more likely to break out of the middle-income trap than by importing large numbers of foreign labour.

Radical right-wing party proposes sending migrants to Africa

migration africa

The radical Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) party firmly rejects the EU’s migrant distribution quota plan and proposes sending migrants “forced onto Hungary” to Africa, the leader of the party said on Monday.

The quotas, if introduced, would be “the same as opening up” the EU’s borders and would “not keep migrants in the country designated for them,” László Toroczkai told a press conference.

He proposed following the UK-Rwanda relocation agreement as a model under which illegal migrants were to be sent to the African country, adding that realisation of the pact had been thwarted by a panel of judges “never elected democratically by anyone”.

Toroczkai said sending migrants to Africa would cost Hungary a lot less than paying under the quota scheme 20,000 euros for each migrant refused to be hosted.

“With such a solution an inflow of migrants to Hungary could also be prevented because people smugglers would choose other routes,” he said.

As we wrote before, the European Union has proposed distributing migrants among member states on a mandatory basis, and this would result in illegal migrants and the human traffickers who smuggle them into Europe deciding who gets to live in Europe, an interior ministry official has said.

Minister: EU wants to distribute migrants on a mandatory basis

Migrants attempt to enter Hungary in rubber dinghy

The European Union has proposed distributing migrants among member states on a mandatory basis, and this would result in illegal migrants and the human traffickers who smuggle them into Europe deciding who gets to live in Europe, an interior ministry official has said.

Hungary and Poland voted against a position on the EU’s refugee reform adopted by the council of the interior ministers, Bence Retvári, the state secretary of the ministry, told MTI in Luxembourg late on Thursday. Member states that refuse to accommodate migrants would have to pay an equivalent of HUF 8 million (EUR 22,000) per migrant, he noted.

Also, he said the distribution of the burdens of border control and border procedures was “disproportionate”, and the Hungarian authorities would be required to perform 28.3 percent of all border procedures “just because Hungarian authorities have a precise record of the number of illegal migrants it has turned back”.

The state secretary said no progress had been made on EU financing for border protection, adding that the Hungarian government had spent more than EUR 1.5 billion on border control infrastructure.

The EU proposal, Retvári said, was “dangerous” since it contained mechanisms that would “promote illegal migration”.

He further insisted that the procedure by which the position paper had been adopted had been “a textbook example of double standards and a travesty of European values”, adding that the council of ministers had “disregarded the fact that it is the European Council that has the powers to pass decisions concerning the EU’s refugee reform”.

Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi hold talks in Hungary

jordan hungary

The European Union should increase financial support for Jordan to bolster its stability and defence, especially since the country has an important role in curbing migration, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Monday, after meeting his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, in Budapest.

Péter Szijjártó told a joint press conference that the two countries, despite the geographic distance, were facing similar security risks, and that Jordan was also dealing with a war in a neighbouring country.

The war in Ukraine has led to rising prices in the Middle East too, and conflicts there often manifest as migration pressure in Europe, Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement.

Peace in both regions is in both countries’ interest, he said.

“We know perfectly well that there are no solutions to these conflicts … on the battlefield. Those acting against peace or relativising it, and those hindering the success of those steps, are responsible for every death hereafter,” he said.

Another security risk in Hungary, migration pressure, is exacerbated by EU policy, and so “Middle Eastern countries curbing migration that are ready and able to handle the root causes” are very important, he said.

Hungary appreciates Jordan’s stance against extremism and terrorist organisations, he said. “We also appreciate that Jordan houses millions of refugees, because otherwise these people would all start for Europe.” Hungary urges the EU and international organisations to increase financial aid for Jordan, he added.

The EU should use the European Peace Facility, among others, to fund Jordan’s defence capabilities, he said.

Hungary has recently supported 13 development projects to improve the situation in refugee camps, he said.

It also offers 400 government grants for Jordanian students wishing to study in Hungary, he said.

Szijjártó and Safadi signed a plan on cultural cooperation in 2024-2027.

As we wrote before, Hungary gives delivery of medical supplies to Caritas Jordan, read the details.

Hungary-Israel cooperation at all-time high

Israel Hungary

Political and economic relations between Hungary and Israel are stronger than ever, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Wednesday, adding that the two countries were also discussing opportunities for energy cooperation.

Cooperation between Hungary and Israel has always been based on mutual respect, and Hungary has always supported the Jewish state’s right to defend itself and guarantee its security, Szijjártó told a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen, according to a ministry statement.

“We condemn all the terrorist threats and attacks that Israel has had to face in the recent period, and we equally condemn the practice in international political organisations that involves the adoption of one-sided, biased statements of condemnation against Israel based on an unfair approach,” the minister said.

He said the “anti-Israel political stance” was in many cases also present in western Europe. “That is why we have had to veto several joint European statements in the recent period which were clearly biased, dishonest, unbalanced and unfair towards Israel,” Szijjártó said. He vowed that the Hungarian government would continue to push for a balanced and fair approach to Israel within the United Nations as well.

Szijjártó said the security of the Middle East was closely linked with the security of Europe, meaning that peace in the region was also in Hungary’s national security interest.

After decades of unsuccessful attempts, the Abraham Accords are the only agreements that offer hope for long-term peace, Szijjártó said, adding that the Hungarian government considered it a global security interest for even more Arab countries to normalise their relations with Israel.

“We ask the European Union and the international financial institutions to ensure financing for developments and investments that can be agreed within the framework of the Abraham Accords, as a form of encouragement for their expansion,” the minister said.

Szijjártó strongly condemned terrorism, calling it “unacceptable” that Palestinian organisations linked to terrorist groups were eligible for support from the European Union.

He said he and Cohen had agreed at their talks that Hungary will support Israel in the international lawsuit the Palestinian Authority has filed against it.

Szijjártó said he had also told his Israeli counterpart that Hungary rejects all forms of anti-Semitism. “We are proud that Hungary is home to central Europe’s largest Jewish community,” he said.

“We are concerned about the modern form of anti-Semitism having reared its head in western Europe,” Szijjártó said. “One source of this phenomenon is mass illegal migration, which poses a particular security challenge for the continent,” he added, underlining the importance of combatting unregulated immigration.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said bilateral economic cooperation was at an all-time high, with trade turnover having reached a record 750 million US dollars last year, and grown by 38 percent so far this year.

There are 250 Israeli-owned businesses employing more than 4,000 people in Hungary, he said, adding that economic cooperation also extended to areas like the security and the space industries.

The minister said they had also discussed ways for Israel to contribute to Hungary’s energy security.

Hungary’s government is putting in significant efforts in the interest of diversification, he said, adding that this was aimed to involve new resources. Israel can play a role in this, but more infrastructure developments are needed for it to deliver natural gas to central Europe, he said.

The sides also signed a declaration of intent on higher education cooperation.

Emigration: where are Hungarians going? These are their target countries

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Once again, more and more Hungarians are emigrating from Hungary. The Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) has now published the countries to which people are going. Let’s take a look at the places that Hungarians choose as their new home.

More and more Hungarians are leaving Hungary

Last year, more Hungarians left the country than before. According to data just released by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, 44 percent of Hungarians who emigrated chose Austria, 25 percent Germany, 5-5 percent the Netherlands and Switzerland, and 4 percent the UK as their new home, Portfolio writes.

The United Kingdom used to be a key destination for people moving out of Hungary. While the number of migrants to the UK has fallen year on year, the number of migrants to Germany has increased slightly. When it comes to Austria, the number of migrants has increased significantly compared to the previous year, the KSH report highlighted.

The reversal of a positive trend

Back in April, Portfolio reported that 26,500 Hungarian citizens emigrated abroad last year. The last time we saw a higher number was in 2017, based on preliminary data from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office. This reverses the positive trend of 2021, when more people returned home than left Hungary. The good news is that the migration gap has not worsened significantly, with considerably more foreign-born Hungarians moving to Hungary than in previous years.

The last time we saw higher emigration was in 2017.

This breaks an important positive trend, as the balance between returnees and recent emigrants has gradually improved in recent years. In 2021, more people returned home than decided to emigrate, after a long period of time. Last year, however, for 21,900 returnees, there were 26,500 emigrants, a reversal of the trend.

The good news is that the overall balance of international migration of Hungarian citizens has still barely deteriorated, from a surplus of 96,702 in 2021 to 94,450. This was due to the fact that 14,000 more Hungarians born abroad moved to the country than before. This is the highest number we have seen in this indicator since 2015, Portfolio concludes.