Does Orbán want to swindle EU billions with refugees from Ukraine?
"Numbers speak for themselves"
Created: 04/01/2022, 19:14
By: Momir Takac
Before the parliamentary elections in Hungary, Viktor Orbán presented himself as unusually friendly towards refugees.
© picture alliance/dpa/AP |
Peter David Josek
Before the parliamentary elections in Hungary, Viktor Orbán presents himself as friendly towards refugees from Ukraine.
But appearances are deceptive.
Budapest - On Sunday (April 3rd) the Hungarians will elect a new parliament and with it a new head of government.
The incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the opposition's joint candidate, Peter Marki-Zay, are up for election.
Hungary: Orbán wants to sneak frozen EU billions?
Unlike the previous elections, things could get tight this time for Orbán, who has been in power for twelve years.
Polls predict a tight race in the 2022 Hungarian election.
In previous elections, the Fidesz politician had always scored points with his rigid stance on immigration.
But this time it's different.
Orbán is suddenly friendly to refugees from Ukraine.
Is Orbán abandoning his right-wing conservative stance?
Obviously not.
Because a suspicion arises.
It's about billions of euros from the EU, which are still frozen because of the dispute over the rule of law in Hungary.
The 58-year-old had requested part of the money from the Corona reconstruction fund in a letter to the EU Commission two weeks ago.
In it, Viktor Orbán referred to the large number of refugees fleeing to Hungary from the war in Ukraine.
More than 500,000 Ukraine refugees according to Orbán spokesman - but there are doubts
Orbán's spokesman Zoltán Kovács recently put the number of refugees from Ukraine at more than 500,000 in an interview.
That would be the largest percentage per capita in Europe.
But there are doubts about the presentation.
For example, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee - a non-governmental organization that campaigns for human rights - sees many Ukrainian refugees arriving in Hungary, but most would travel on shortly afterwards.
The government is not willing to guarantee access to protection, András Léderer from the Helsinki Committee told
WELT
.
As of March 30, only 7,947 people from Ukraine had applied for asylum in Hungary.
"The numbers speak for themselves," said Léderer.
The assumption is also substantiated by an eyewitness who described the questionable behavior of Hungarian border guards towards refugees from Ukraine.
Hungary expert contradicts statements by Orbán's government on refugees from Ukraine
The analyst and consultant Bálint Ruff also disagrees with the government's statements.
"Hungary is a transit country for the majority of Ukrainian refugees," he tells
WELT
.
For the expert it is clear: In view of the scarce poll numbers before the Hungarian elections in 2022, Orbán tried “to present himself as a helper.” “In Germany he had to sell the topic to his voters differently.
He explained to them that the refugees who are now coming across the border are different from the refugees in 2015,” Ruff analyzed.
Daniel Freund's observation also shows that Orbán's government is not prepared to guarantee refugees adequate protection.
The member of the EU Parliament was in Hungary and reported on Ukrainians who, despite an EU visa, would pay for their own accommodation.
They would actually be entitled to a place to stay and state aid.
"Many just drive through," says Freund
WELT.
It will become clear on Sunday evening whether Orbán will be successful with his strategy when the first projections for the 2022 Hungarian elections are received.
(mt)