Applicants for Hungary’s National Card will go through “the same migration and security screenings as applicants for any other residence permit,” the state secretary for government communications said on Facebook on Wednesday.
Zoltán Kovács responded to European concerns suggesting that the Hungarian programme could offer “easy access for Russian and Belarusian spies”, and dismissed suggestions of Hungary hosting such spies as “fiction”.
Kovács said the cards could be obtained for a stay between 90 days and two years, for employment purposes, adding that the applicant was required to have an employer and an actual position. Holders of the card need to reapply if they change their job, he added.
The state secretary also noted that the National Card programme had been in place “for quite some time”, yet, it had not received criticism from the EU. “If it was all right earlier, why are we getting attacked now, while the regulations and the practice have been unchanged?” he asked.
Unrealistic worries about Russian spies due to National Card?
Citing Eurostat figures, Kovács said over 718,000 Russian citizens had been staying in the EU in January 2023, with fewer than one percent of that group in Hungary, adding that “the same ratio” applied to Belarusian nationals. In view of those figures “Brussels’ worries about Russian spies in Hungary” seem “a bit unrealistic”. He also added that “huge masses of Russians” lived in the Baltic states, which he said were “most critical of Hungary’s National Card system and the alleged risks around it”.
Read also:
- Hungary’s National Card programme extension on Russians, Belarusians: letter to the EC sent – read more HERE
- Security risk for Schengen area? Hungary’s National Card programme under fire but foreign minister dismisses concerns
Featured image: depositphotos.com
These are the kinds of nationalities we should be importing, not Indians, etc.
As far as E.U.’s “concerns,” that’s the same E.U. that happily waves in tens of millions of lowest-quality, and illegal, migrants while severely punishing the few members who try to defend their borders from the invasion. Go climb a tree, E.U.
@michaelsteiner – if our Schengen partners are worried, would we not be better off convincing them of the robustness of our processes? Instead of the usual bellicose Politician knee jerk?
As you may know, Hungary does not have a great reputation when it comes to screening – it is why we have a shorter ESTA validity compared to any of the other forty (40!) countries in the program (since our Politicians decided to hand out Hungarian passports to anyone claiming to be of Hungarian ancestry, without background checks).
https://www.politico.eu/article/us-america-visa-waiver-program-esta-visa-waiver-hungary-tourism-viktor-orban/
Next, let´s be sure to get our definitions straight. There are refugees (persons who are outside their country of origin for reasons of feared persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or other circumstances that have seriously disturbed public order and, as a result, require international protection), migrants (someone who changes his or her country of usual residence, irrespective of the reason for migration or legal status) and then there is the category illegal migrants. The first is actually not primarily governed by the EU but rather the United Nations (1951 Convention and regional refugee instruments, as well as UNHCR’s Statute).
Anyone claiming refugee status should have their claim duly processed. You will find that, on average, a large percentage are deemed legitimate. Not in Hungary, though! Other than the relatively few Ukrainians, we do not really believe in refugees (very few applications for protection, even less granted). I encourage anyone to play around with the site for a bit. There is a lot of interesting data!
https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/migration-and-asylum/common-european-asylum-system/statistics_en
The lack of empathy for refugees is particularly galling given our history. When our country folk ended up fleeing Hungary in 1956 – would you be advocating sending them all back because things were “OK”?
https://asylumineurope.org/reports/country/hungary/