A Deceiving Ukrainian Refugee Welcoming in Hungary

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán addresses the European People’s Party (Source: Flickr).

Despite Hungary’s apparent shift in immigration policy following the public welcoming of Ukrainian asylum seekers, while some of this effort must be credited, it is important to note that a large part of this public vocalization of support for the refugees is a guise to demonstrate solidarity with the European Union and garner its benefits and praise while Hungary dissents in economic and military matters in the wake of the Russia/Ukraine crisis.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine commenced February 24, around 12 million Ukrainian citizens have been forced to leave their homes, 6.8 million displaced internally and 5.2 million displaced abroad. Fellow Eastern European countries have taken in the majority of these refugees, the United Nations citing 2,922,978 in Poland, 782,598 in Romania, and 496,914 in Hungary as of April 25.

 On March 3rd, for the first time in history, the European Union invoked its temporary-protection directive, giving Ukrainians the right to live, work, and receive benefits in 26 of its 27 member countries. Currently, the popular Temporary Protection Directive, voted on unanimously by all European member states, covers many aspects of immigration life, including the right to housing, medical assistance, work, and access to education.

Despite following very vocal anti-immigration policies in the past, most notably with the 2015 migration crisis where 1.3 million migrants and refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries entered into the European continent, so far, Hungary, with its population of just under 10 million people, has accepted the most Ukrainian refugees per capita. In the direct aftermath of the invasion, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, leader of the far-right political party Fidesz publicly announced that “all those fleeing from Ukraine will find a friend in the Hungarian state.” March 3, a mere week after the beginning of the invasion, Orbán traveled to his country’s border with Ukraine to greet arriving refugees, shaking hands with them and visiting refugee camps, praising the work of volunteers and reassuring that no one would be “left uncared for.”

This is a dramatic contrast from the Orbán administration which, in response to the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis, erected a 13-foot razor-wire fence along Hungary’s southern border with Serbia and deployed armed forces to kick out refugees said to be in the country illegally. Due to the 2015 crisis, Hungary has been accused of systematic violations of EU law, including the detaining and starving of asylum seekers. Mere weeks before Ukrainian refugees arrived at the Hungarian border, Moroccan and Afghani refugees were “illegally beaten and pushed back from” the Hungarian-Serbian border in their attempt to enter into Europe via the Balkan route.

There are differences between the composition of the refugees of the 2015 crisis and that of the Russian-Ukrainian war that must be noted in order to explain this shift towards more lenient and even welcoming Hungarian policies and public opinion towards Ukrainians. Firstly, due to the prohibition of men aged 18-60 from leaving the country, most refugees from Ukraine are women, children, and older people, thus posing much less of a perceived security risk for the Hungarian population. Secondly, the Ukrainian region Transcarpathia is home to around 150,000 Ukrainians who speak Hungarian, and they would prove to assimilate best into Hungarian society, as well as most likely vote in line with the standing regime led by Viktor Orbán.

Though not as drastic as those followed in the wake of the 2015 migration crisis, it is clear that, despite its public announcements, an Orbán administration still desires a limited refugee policy, even with respect to Ukraine, maintaining its mere two asylum centers open. The government itself has done little to provide assistance to the roughly 400,000 Ukrainians who have arrived in the country, leaving volunteers, nongovernmental organizations and local governments to piece together a support system for the refugees. When asked about their limited involvement in helping refugees, a spokesperson for Orbán stated, the government is “competently coordinating "the largest humanitarian operation in Hungary's history. 

Hungary has made a point to signal its solidarity with the EU in regards to immigration due to its dissent in economic and military matters. Hungary has been adamant that it will not support an embargo on Russian oil and gas, and it has also refused to send military weapons to Ukraine. Due to independent Hungarian-Russian deals, the last meeting of which occurred mid-February, right before the invasion, Hungary currently enjoys the cheapest Russian gas on the market. 

However, Hungary also strongly benefits from being a part of the European Union. Economically, intra-EU trade accounts for 78% of Hungary’s exports. Furthermore, 70% of Hungarian people do not wish to leave the EU, showing the populace’s recognition of the helpful benefits of being associated with the EU. Recently, strong rhetoric has been aimed at Hungary due to its opposition to ban Russian oil, with the Czech defense minister, Jana Cernochova, declaring that she was “very sorry that cheap Russian oil is now more important to Hungarian politicians than Ukrainian blood.”

Despite this seemingly ethical pro-refugee stance, it is clear that Hungary has attempted to use its welcoming in order to secure more EU funding domestically. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a human rights NGO based in Hungary, called Hungary’s claim that 540,000 refugees were welcomed into the country “misleading” as many refugees have traveled onto other countries after having initially arrived in Hungary due to the Schengen Zone that allows free movement across most European Union member states. Due to Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic’s participation in the Schengen Agreement, it is thus difficult to tell exactly how many refugees have stayed in which country overtime. Hungary benefits from these claims of hosting more refugees, especially with regards to an overwhelmed healthcare system, in order to secure more funding from the EU.

Ukrainian refugees suffer from higher rates of infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis. The EU's disease control agency has further called on those member states hosting the refugees to help ensure that gaps in childhood vaccination, including against polio and measles, are filled. With these medical issues more heavily influencing the Ukrainian population within Hungary, it, as well as other Central and Eastern European countries, has complained of unequipped and flooding-prone facilities to deal with the situation.

By playing this double game of maintaining economic ties with Russia but also being–at least publicly---a vocal host to its Ukrainian neighbors, Hungary attempts to receive the best of both worlds. While credit must be made where it is due, it is clear that an Orbán-led Hungary supports immigration that further benefits his own interests and that of Hungary’s, allowing Orbán to earn the respect and camaraderie from fellow EU leaders while his economic and military policies stray from the pact.