Refugees arriving in Hungary from Ukraine will not be left unattended, the prime minister told reporters in Beregsurány, near the Hungarian-Ukrainian border, on Thursday.
Viktor Orbán emphasized that calmness, experience, and routine are the most important in times of trouble.
“Unfortunately or fortunately we have crisis ministers,” most ministers have seen some kind of crisis, so coordination works well
– He told.
He added that the work of the volunteers has been coordinated so that no donations are wasted, everything is grouped, distributed, and delivered to the right place.
The Prime Minister also said that refugees who do not have an acquaintance with whom they could stay and stay in Hungary will be placed in temporary accommodation. In different parts of the country, suitable places have already been designated for them, where they will receive food and accommodation even if they are forced to stay longer.
Viktor Orbán also reported that work had begun to organize the placement of refugees.
“We try to create an opportunity for everyone to create their own existence if life has already brought us to live here with us and we have to settle here in Hungary”
– said the head of government, adding, “this is a work-based country, here we help everyone to work”.
The Prime Minister also said that Hungarian refugees are in a simpler situation because they speak the language, have contacts, find accommodation quickly, and even do most of the work.
He noted that he was talking to a family at the border who already had a rented apartment in Nyíregyháza, where they could move in with five children and start working tomorrow.
Some are more in trouble, partly because they are not Hungarian, do not speak the language, and because they do not know if they want to stay. In addition to Hungarians and Ukrainians, he spoke about third-country refugees who were mostly students in Ukraine. Indians, Nigerians, Chinese – can also come to Hungary and go home from Budapest based on an agreement with their embassies. And for those who do not want to lose their previous years of study, we “agree” with them and, if they want, they can come back to Hungarian universities to complete their studies.
There is accommodation, there is care for the time being, there will also be job opportunities, students have a school, we have interpreters, things are going smoothly compared to the circumstances – the Prime Minister summed up, noting that Hungary can only help those in need, but the key is to solve the problem “He is not in Hungary, but there”.
Asked by Viktor Orbán, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó is in contact with both the Russians and the Ukrainians; he has not spoken to anyone since the outbreak of the war. Asked if he was planning, he replied, “as the need brings, when I need it, I speak”.
The prime minister was asked about the investment in Paks. He said Paks II will be built “on schedule,” hopefully “under the direction of our government, as we planned”. Hungary needs Paks II and the Hungarian people need it, without it the Hungarian industry would be more uncompetitive and the overhead costs for the families would be higher. Therefore, the government has no reason to change its previous plans and no such intention, he noted.
Regarding his meeting with Vladimir Putin in early February, Viktor Orban said the German chancellor, the French president and he had also carried out a peace mission in Moscow. They tried to prevent war by preventing negotiations between the Ukrainians and the Russians. The opportunity, I think, was created, we are sorry that in the end, this opportunity did not become a reality, he said.
Asked in English what to say to Ukrainian presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orban said in English that they had no message, only to those refugees who were present. To tell them that Hungary is a good friend of Ukraine, “the Ukrainian people (…) can count on us”. He said he did not believe that the Ukrainian and Russian leaders needed a message from him, advice. They’re “big boys,” “they know better than I should do”. Hungarians can wish and what they want is peace. The Hungarian Prime Minister emphasized that he also wanted peace from the heart.
In response to another English question, he emphasized that they had tried to do everything possible to negotiate. What is now is war, and war can only be stopped by negotiation, by the ceasefire. However, it does not depend on European leaders or the Hungarian Prime Minister, but on the Russians and Ukrainians, basically the Russians, he said. The Hungarian government tried to advance the talks, offering the parties to hold peace talks in Budapest. Hungary will always be available if the Russians and Ukrainians need it to make peace, Viktor Orbán emphasized.
Another foreign journalist suggested that the Hungarian government is now very different in terms of people arriving at the borders than in 2015. Viktor Orbán said that Hungarians do not live in a comfortable, safe West, but in the midst of difficulties, and this has been the case for centuries. As a result, “we can make a difference” between migrants and refugees. The Hungarian position is for the migrants to stop, and the refugees to receive all the help, the Prime Minister said.
MTI
Photo: MTI / Prime Minister’s Press Office / Benko Vivien Cher
