The Budapest and Pest County regional offices of the Hungarian National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing in the 11th district of Budapest in 2022

As Opposed to Accusations to the Contrary, Hungarian Immigration Regime Remains Strictest in the EU

After the expansion of the so-called National Card scheme for which Russian and Belarusian nationals have now also become eligible, Budapest came under fire from Brussels politicians who claimed the measure poses a security risk to Europe. However, the conditions under which Russian nationals can enter and work in Hungary have not significantly changed with the introduction of the National Card and are comparable to the visa regimes of other European countries, which in fact allow Russians to apply for long-term visas in a much more generous way than Hungary and yet have never been pilloried for it.

Manfred Weber Wants Hungarian Schengen Membership Suspended over Immigration Rules

President of the European People’s Party Manfred Weber is urging EU Member States to respond to the Hungarian worker visa changes with the strictest possible measures. Starting 8 July, Belarusian and Russian workers, along with nationals of six other countries, will be able to enter and work in Hungary under relaxed conditions. This move has infuriated the famously anti-Hungarian Weber, who claims it threatens the entire Schengen area. The European Commission has the power to suspend a state’s Schengen membership, although this has never happened before.

Dr Barbara Kolm, founder and Director of the Austrian Economics Center (C), and Dr Ádám Banai, Managing Director of the Hungarian National Bank for Monetary Policy Instruments (L) in the first panel of the conference

Digitalization, Free Trade, Migration and More — Free Market Road Show Held at Danube Institue

The Free Market Road Show, held for the ninth time, was organized in collaboration with the Austrian Economics Center and the Danube Institute. This year’s speakers discussed topics such as Central Bank Digital Currencies and the related issues of individual freedom and privacy, new economic strategies for a post-COVID world, and how global security threats, such as wars and migration, affect trade.

Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Shipwreck (1805). Tate Britain, London, UK

Ambivalence in Brussels: The Two Faces of European Migration Policy

Since 2013, migration pressure on Europe has become the new normal, and in recent years the situation has once again worsened: 2023 saw the highest number of illegal immigrants reaching Europe since 2016. Due to the worsening security situation in the Sahel region and the economic difficulties afflicting North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, nearly one million people applied for asylum in the EU.

Refugees and Migrants aboard fishing boat drived by smugglers reach the Greek Island coast of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey on 11 October 2015.

New Asylum and Migration Pact Reform Completed

The regulations of the new pact include, for instance, faster processing of asylum applications, more efficient return of those who do not have the right to stay in the EU, and solidarity in the distribution of migrants between Member States.

Tom van Grieken: ‘Mass immigration affects not only the economy, but also our identity’

‘Viktor Orbán showed us that an alternative to the leftist, open-border government is not only possible but can be highly successful and popular amongst the people. That’s inspiring. However, for it to be a true success, the seeds planted by Hungary in the rest of Europe have to sprout as well. And that is not the responsibility of Viktor Orbán or the Hungarians, but of right-wing politicians in other countries.’