Hungary against EU’s Immigration Policies

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that a break-up of the European Union would be inevitable due to the imposition of pro-immigration policies.

Background

Since the 1950s, many nations in Africa have suffered civil wars and ethnic strife, thus generating a massive number of refugees of many different nationalities and ethnic groups.

Europe was at the centre of a crisis sparked by migration. In 2015 alone more than a million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe. A number of countries in the continent struggled to handle the influx of people entering their territories. Countries within the EU have had disagreements on how best to deal with the problem while also helping those seeking refuge.

Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister has opposed the migration policies since the crisis of 2015 explicitly stating that it would cause for the increase in Islamists. He was re-elected for a third straight term in April last year, after a campaign dominated by immigration.

A long-term critic of the EU, Orbán has accused NGOs and critical media of being part of a plot orchestrated by Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros to send millions of people to Hungary. He had orchestrated a sting operation that targeted a number of people working for Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) before his election in 2018.

In February, the Hungarian government launched a poster campaign, based on misleading claims about migration, featuring the European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker and George Soros.

Analysis

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that a breakup of the European Union cannot be ruled out if one part of the bloc tries to impose pro-immigration policies on another.

"If we are left alone and they do not force Islamisation on us, Europe can continue to live as the club of free nations," Orban said, but added that if Brussels forces Hungary "to accept the UN migration pact or the European Commission's decisions so as to make us fit their own Western concessive policies, a breakup [of the EU] cannot be ruled out.”

The campaign against the EU has caused complications between the Orban government and the European People’s Party (EPP). The EPP has asked Hungary to take down the post against the EU Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker and philanthropist Soros.

Orban has been quoted saying that he would like to reform the EPP by swaying the party towards anti-immigration policies. Orban’s party Fidesz has received communication from the EPP regarding the removal of the maligning campaigning posters, failing which Fidesz will be booted from the EPP.

The Prime Minister has also supported the views of French President Emmanuel Macron. He said that Macron’s proposal to reform the Schengen area policies and establish a common border force and EU asylum office is necessary.

The European Union has proposed an overhaul in the current European asylum system which consists of law to re-distribute refugees equally among the bloc nations. Hungary has always refused to take refugees under the quotas and continues to block an EU law that proposes a permanent redistribution system for asylum seekers. 

EU members have also been unable to harmonize asylum procedures across the bloc. The failure to reach an agreement could lead to the reassessing of the proposals under a newly-appointed European commission and the newly-elected European parliament.

Assessment

Our assessment is that the EU Commission’s election will happen before its members can conclude on the migrant asylum policies. We believe that the economic impact and the security implications of resettling the migrants could be a major factor contributing to Hungary’s current political stance.

Image Courtesy: European People's Party, EPP Helsinki Congress in Finland, 7-8 November 2018 (45053728794), CC BY 2.0