Orbán’s Hungary ignores Brussels ultimatum: Facilitated visa program for Russians and Belarusians remains in place

Brussels – Budapest continues to shrug off the issue of facilitated entry for Russian and Belarusian citizens, which worries Brussels and the EU member states. The so-called “National Card” program, through which Hungary allows residents of the two countries to obtain residence permits with expedited procedures, remains unchanged for the time being. The EU executive had asked for assurances from Viktor Orbán’s government by Monday (August 19). But no one bothered to respond to the requests made in black and white by the European Commission, thus raising the temperature of yet another tug-of-war between the Hungarian Chancellery and the Union.

The controversial scheme—which went into effect at the same
time as Hungary’s rotating presidency of the EU Council (in early July) and
amends the legal framework related to immigration—allows so-called “guest
workers” from eight third countries, including Russia and Belarus, to stay
in Hungary for two years, with the option of renewing their permits for another
three years. The new rules on so-called “fast-track visas” make the bureaucratic process faster than the issuance of regular visas and work permits and provide facilitated procedures for family reunification.

Last August 1, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, had sent a letter to her Hungarian counterpart, Sándor Pintér, asking for clarification on this system, which facilitates the entry into EU territory of citizens from two extra-EU countries that Brussels considers hostile, allowing them to move freely in the Schengen area. The fear is that this move could open a security breach in the bloc, serving as a “Trojan horse” for spies and saboteurs in the pay of the Kremlin who could even obtain permanent residency in a member state.

And this is not a concern of the Commission alone.

As Euractiv reports, the foreign, interior, and justice ministers of six EU countries (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden) plus two non-EU countries (Iceland and Norway) approached Brussels last August 15, explicitly denouncing the easing of legal restrictions on immigration decided by the Magyar government.

Technically, the issuance of visas and residence permits is a national competence. But European chancelleries must be careful “not to jeopardize the integrity of our common area without internal border controls,” Johansson stressed in her message, underlining that it is up to governments “to duly consider the potential security implications.” This reasoning was also echoed by the eight states that signed the letter to the Commission. Johansson herself had advocated “higher standards of control and vigilance” for Russian nationals attempting to enter the Union,
the exact reverse of
what Hungary had done with its new measure. This measure, critics argue, ends up substantially undermining the spirit of loyal cooperation among member states and undermining the effectiveness of provisions of EU law, including both internal Schengen rules and restrictions on third-country nationals.

As the deadline set by the Commission expired yesterday, no formal response to the issues raised by Johansson seems to have come from Budapest. The only comment from the Magyar executive came from Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó, who stated that “the inclusion of Russian and Belarusian citizens in the National Card program does not pose any security risk from the perspective of the Schengen area since these people must still undergo a full screening to enter and stay in Hungary.” Szijjártó branded as “lies” the claims of his European counterparts, who would be “blinded by their adherence to the war camp,” that is, to the political and military support granted to Ukraine against Russian aggression.

Now, the buck will most likely end up on the table of the foreign and defence ministers of the Twenty-Seven, who will meet in an informal Council on August 28 and 29. The meeting, which in EU jargon is usually called Gymnich (named after the German location where the first such meeting was held in 1974), is a key event ahead of the bloc’s full resumption of work after the summer break. Traditionally, it is hosted by the country holding the rotating presidency: in this case, it should, therefore, be held in Budapest, but given the irritation caused by the Hungarian premier’s casual “diplomatic missions” to Ukraine, Russia, China and the United States, on July 22 it was decided to organize the meeting in Brussels. Among the options available to the Commission to bring the Magyar executive back in line would theoretically be to suspend Hungary from the Schengen area, but this would be a highly confrontational move that would set a dangerous precedent.