Hungarian Conservative

The International Network for Immigration Research has been just inaugurated by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium. The network will allow research centres across multiple countries to coordinate research and share findings with each other on the contentious issue of immigration. Four experts on the subject held an insightful discussion at the MCC Campus in Budapest, Hungary to mark the occasion.

In his regular Friday morning interview with public Kossuth radio, Viktor Orbán addressed issues such as migration, the economy and Ukraine’s EU accession.

The illegal migrants were found crammed inside the vehicle in the north-western part of Hungary. Human smuggling charges were brought against the driver.

Varga, who the Sunday Telegraph 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.

President Novák emphasized that the Hungarian diaspora in Australia serves as a good example of it an immigrant group contributing to the development of the host country while preserving its roots and heritage. The Hungarians who settled in Australia became loyal Australians while holding onto their Hungarian identity, the President underscored.

While the largest German paper Bild took a sympathetic tone toward refugees back in 2015, that has since changed. On 29 October, they published a 50-point anti-migration manifesto in which they proclaim, among other things, that ‘anyone who considers our constitution and our legal system a collection of non-binding recommendations should leave Germany as soon as possible,’ and ‘anyone who wants to live here permanently must learn German’.

The Mathias Corvinus Collegium, in collaboration with the Migration Research Institute and the Wacław Felczak Institute of Polish-Hungarian Cooperation, held a conference in Budapest, in which renowned experts discussed one of Europe’s most pressing issues of the time: migration.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, speaking in Granada at a meeting of European Union member state leaders, asserted that there is no hope for an agreement among the heads of state and government on the issue of migration.

According to data provided by the Slovak Ministry of the Interior, the number of illegal migrants arriving in Slovakia through the Western Balkans route began to significantly increase in August of last year. From the beginning of this year up until now, nearly 40,000 illegal immigrants have entered the country, which is 11 times more than during the same period last year.

The Hungarian foreign minister emphasized that despite all efforts, global terrorism remains more severe than ever, claiming 6,700 lives last year due to various attacks. He opined that one of the reasons for that is that terrorism and illegal migration create a kind of ‘vicious circle’.

Groups of 140–180 individuals have been attempting to cross the border fence using ladders in the areas of Ásotthalom and Mórahalom, with human traffickers waiting on the Hungarian side, ready to move those who manage to cross towards the West. ‘The police and border patrol units are engaged in proper combat,’ according to the PM’s Chief Security Advisor György Bakondi.

The conservative Prime Minister of Italy is aiming to ease the migration pressure on Europe by having the migrants’ transit countries and countries of origin more involved in managing the migration flow. She has already made some headway on this front.

Another summit of the intergovernmental cooperation between Austria, Hungary, and Serbia took place on 7 July in Vienna, Austria. Apart from the heads of state and government, the three nations’ ministers of foreign affairs, and domestic and law enforcement leaders also took part in the conference, held at the Austrian Chancellor’s residence. The Vienna Summit was organised in the wake of Hungary and Poland officially objecting to the migration package at the European Commission’s 30 June session.

The root cause of the riots result from the French state having been unable to eliminate social inequalities and ethnic differences for decades, the panellists at a Migration Research Institute discussion agreed.

In 2017, the recent France riots were seemingly foreshadowed by the Foreign Minister of the UAE, who said: ‘There will come a day that we will see far more radical extremists and terrorists coming out of Europe because of lack of decision making, trying to be politically correct, or assuming that they know the Middle East and they know Islam and others far better than we do. I’m sorry, but that’s pure ignorance.’

It appears that the Visegrád Four cooperation is once again revitalising itself along the lines of common interests. The green transition and its impact on industrial investment in Central Europe, European security or illegal migration are issues that have prompted the V4 countries, and the Poles and the Hungarians in particular, to once again join forces.

According to Bence Rétvári, the voluntary quota introduced earlier has proved unsuccessful, so Brussels now wants to forcefully distribute migrants. He added that if Hungary refuses to comply, it may face penalties, referred to as ‘financial contributions’ in the proposal. This would mean that the Hungarian government would have to pay some eight million Hungarian forints per migrant that it is unwilling to accept.

‘The real crisis is neither at the US-Mexican nor at the European borders. Instead, it stems from Central America. Crime, violence, corruption, and economic devastation in the region have propelled people to the border. In terms of Europe, it is the Balkans, Africa, and the Middle East that have propelled their citizens to flee inhumane situations.’

Apart from causing tragic suffering for the locals and posing a major threat to foreign nationals living in Sudan, the civil war is unfortunately also expected to result in an increase in the number of people trying to enter the EU illegally.

‘Over the past decades, the number of fences at the EU borders has risen from 0 to 19.’

The number of successfully or unsuccessfully attempted illegal crossings at EU borders reached 330,000 in 2022, the highest number since 2015. Meanwhile, Denmark and the United Kingdom are pursuing plans to relocate illegal immigrants to Rwanda.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the freedom of movement of European citizens, which is so essential to the European project, is now in danger in the face of the worsening migration crisis.

Minister Szijjártó underscored that he is glad there are still politicians like Matteo Salvini in Europe. He said Salvini, whom he described as an old friend, is one of ‘those who are able to think rationally about migration’.

Although the official Hungarian propaganda constantly portrayed the ‘dark figures’ of the leftist emigration as plotting from abroad against Hungary, the surviving primary sources show a picture of ineffectual losers fighting among themselves.

‘Italy will not be an accomplice of human trafficking,’ argued Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.

At the three-country summit hosted by Budapest on Monday all parties agreed that illegal migration can only be countered by working together for the protection of all of Europe.

As Sweden prepares for general elections in September, predictions about who the winner will be fill the media. It is most likely that the deciding factor will be the competing parties’ stance on illegal immigration.

Southern-European countries expect a large influx of migrants from North Africa and the Middle East. As food insecurity grows due to the war and climate change, many will attempt to flee their crisis-stricken countries.

The European Union’s current administration of refugee affairs can safely be called both flawed and obsolete.

Mass immigration is, indeed, a danger for all societies, and though it seems an unavoidable symptom of late civilizations, patriotic politicians should seek to reduce it as much as possible.