While the entirety of Europe braced itself to absorb a massive influx of (illegal) migrants in the past decade from the Middle East and North Africa, one nation broke the central narrative around the refugee problem. The Hungarian government did not give in despite facing hurdles and external issues from Brussels that were artificially created. It implemented one of Europe's most restrictive approaches to asylum seekers and refugees.

By Farid Shukurlu
A proud country that prides itself on its culture, religion, and history, it has developed a comprehensive system that combines physical barriers, legal restrictions, and administrative procedures to minimise refugee admissions.

Hungary’s fiercest response to the migration crisis started in 2015 with constructing a 175-kilometer fence along its border with Serbia. Topped with barbed wire, this barrier manifests Hungary's border control policy.

The border wall is constantly patrolled by the police and military forces who are also responsible for fixing any breaches on the border as well as stopping those attempting unauthorized crossings from Serbia into Hungarian territories.

Even though no wall is 100 percent effective, as proven by the US-Mexico border and other international cases, it has still managed to reduce irregular and illegal border crossings. The erection of this barrier was made in direct response to hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants who attempted to transit through Hungary in 2015 en route to Western Europe.

Having to deal with the migration issue alone, Hungary has adopted and maintained a "state of crisis due to mass migration." This quasi-state of exception was first declared in September 2015 and repeatedly extended, currently in effect until September 2025.

This legal mechanism allows local authorities exceptional powers, including the ability to conduct pushbacks of migrants across the border fence without legal procedures or the opportunity to challenge these measures.

What is noteworthy about this legal mechanism is that it applies even to those willing to seek asylum in Hungary. However, it is usually believed that any asylum seeker should apply for a special status in the very first safe country they arrive in.

Orban, in charge of the country since 2010, is confident in Budapest’s refusal to welcome and accommodate illegal aliens. His political backing derives from the 2016 referendum on migration, when the Hungarian Government asked its citizens whether they agreed that the EU should be able to mandate the resettlement of non-Hungarian citizens in Hungary without the approval of the National Assembly.

Despite the quota referendum being declared invalid because of a low turnout rate, nearly 99 percent of voters rejected EU-imposed migrant quotas, reinforcing the government's restrictive stance.

Witnessing all this, the European Union stepped in first to compel Hungary to share the burden. Nevertheless, this approach did not prove effective. Before 2020, Hungary operated a so-called “transit zone” scheme on its southern border, where it would keep illegal migrants until a final destination was determined.

Following a European Court of Justice ruling, they had to terminate this scheme, closing down these facilities permanently. Though the government disagreed with the verdict, it complied while simultaneously shifting to the more restrictive embassy procedure system.

While this policy has proven extremely restrictive in practice, the number of approved applications was minimised. Even after the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out, Hungary kept its back straight, and its embassy in Kyiv did not process any applications from 2021 to 2024.

Hungary remains determined to curb Brussels' pressure on migration. Orban personally opposed the EU’s migration pact, which he claims threatens his country’s national sovereignty while penalising countries like Hungary and Poland, which have the right to refuse to take migrants.

One of the most significant clauses of the EU migration pact was the required financial compensation of 20,000 Euros per migrant. This clause fumed the leadership of some European countries and caused widespread condemnation of major EU institutions for abusing their powers by imposing relocation quotas.

Orban and his Fidesz party devised a creative solution to this issue. They confidently announced plans to send migrants to Brussels on buses in case Brussels is compelled to accept them. The Prime Minister is clear on his stance on the fight against globalist NGOs linked to George Soros, whose longstanding motivation is to flood Europe with immigrants from second-world countries.

While Europe continues to shift to right-wing politics, Hungary’s last strongman still stands firm against illegal migration, which has shattered the European way of life. Illegal migration and integration of migrants oscillated the security, economy, and fabric of dozens of European societies, leading to terrorist attacks, sexual grooming, and gang violence.

German women have fallen victim to perpetrators of Middle Eastern background. At the same time, Malmö has become known as the rape capital of Europe: both consequences of the European Union’s liberal immigration and integration policies.

In Paris, London, Barcelona, and Amsterdam, Islamic terrorism took dozens of innocent lives. In Amsterdam, Israeli football fans were targeted by Islamic migrants using the Gaza War as an excuse for their anti-Semitism.

One fact is apparent: it is not the European Union that will save Europe from the abyss, but those who love their nations and uphold Judeo-Christian values, leaders like Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, Marine Le Pen in France, and Nigel Farage in the United Kingdom.

Until security and identity are restored in cities like Amsterdam, Paris, and London, Europe cannot afford to ignore the successes of Hungary—a country where the authenticity of its parent culture is preserved, and where multiculturalism is a virtue grounded, not a political slogan promoted by globalist elites.