This is my litmus test on whether European integration is a viable project or whether it was a pipe dream all along. If Hungary doesn’t get (effectively) booted out of Schengen immediately following launching this policy, we might as well pack it up and end this farce.
>**A decision by Hungary to ease visa restrictions for Russians poses “serious national security concerns” as it opens the door to spies, the EU’s largest party has warned.**
>Earlier this month, Budapest published details of new visa rules that grant citizens of eight countries, including Russia and Belarus, permission to enter Hungary without security checks.
>Budapest noted that many of these citizens will be involved in building a nuclear reactor using Russian technology.
>Manfred Weber, the chairman of the European People’s Party, has written a letter to the European Council president, Charles Michel, raising concerns about Hungary’s “questionable” new fast-track visa system for Russians.
>Weber said this could “create grave loopholes for espionage activities, and potentially allow large numbers of Russians to enter Hungary with minimal supervision, posing a serious risk to national security”.
>Budapest’s move could also help Russians to travel around Europe’s borderless Schengen zone, and bypass “the restrictions required by EU law”, he added.
>**‘Stringent measures’ urged**
>Weber called on EU leaders “to adopt the most stringent measures to immediately protect the integrity of the Schengen area”.
>Under EU law, people from outside the bloc have to apply for a visa to be able to travel freely inside the Schengen zone, which covers 29 countries including Norway and Switzerland. However, national governments have the right to manage their own immigration systems and work permits.
>Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine at the start of 2022, the EU has imposed sanctions including travel bans and asset freezes on hundreds of Russian individuals who have connections to the Kremlin.
>Russian citizens can still move around the EU if they possess a visa and have no ties to Putin, but their movements are hampered because airlines based in Russia are not allowed to fly into the bloc.
>At the end of November 2022, Ukrainian authorities arrested a Russian agent on the Ukraine-Hungary border as he attempted to smuggle a flash drive with secret information hidden in his anus, according Balkan Insight, an investigative online media outlet.
>The drive contained sensitive information on senior staff at the Ukrainian security services, as well as about Ukrainian military bases and logistics. The spy had intended to hand this over to the Russian embassy in Budapest, Balkan Insight reported.
>**Soured relationship**
>Hungary’s relationship with Europe has soured since Budapest assumed the rotating presidency of the EU on July 1.
>Shortly after taking the helm, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, embarked on visits to Ukraine and Russia to allegedly broker a peace deal.
>The trips were widely criticized. The European Commission responded with a boycott of meetings between high-level EU officials and Hungary, while members of the European Parliament called for the country to be stripped of its voting rights at the EU Council.
>Source: The Financial Times, Balkan Insight, TVP World
Easy enough, close down the borders with Hungary. They want to play games with everyone they have to play ball.
Romania would never do anything like this, yet Hungry is in Schengen and we are now allowed to join.
People not surprised by Hungary
It was an order, what was orban supposed to do?
daddy putin sent a message and his lapdog went for it without hesitation and without any deeper consideration, apparently.
he took the money that came with conditions and there’s plenty of windows in Buda, even more in Pest.
We don’t need Hungary to invite spies into Europe. We already have a bunch, including: Gerhard Schröder, Matthias Platzeck, Wolfgang Reitzle, Karin Kneissl, Johann Gudenus, Wolfgang Schüssel, Jan Marsalek and many many more
Orban should be kicked in the nuts every time he is met by another person.
Orban is on a political suicide bombing operation.
traitors like this make me ill.
FUCKING DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS
This was well known to happen for some time now. My question is,why haven’t all the other EU countries instituted border controls with Hungary at the same time? We saw that it was possible during the pandemic.
European integration is only going to proceed once they get rid of national vetos. And seeing as even pro-integration states probably want to keep their vetos, it shows how dead in the water the dream of further union is.
In Other News: the Grass is Green
When are we kicking Orban out of the EU?
Hungary is landlocked, you know.
Russians enter in Schengen sooner than Romanians…
Almost literally a Trojan Horse. The EU really needs to do something against this. It’s too late to draw a line and say “till here and not an inch further”, since ‘here’ is already too far.
Suspending Schengen should be the minimum at least for this kind of crap
Urgh the European People’s Party, almost as bad as the People’s Party of Europe.
Hangary do what they want… Dunno why EU is so toothless..
Orban is a member of the EPP funnily enough. Maybe he’s too liberal for them but the EPP eventually suspended (not expelled) Fidez after one of their prominent MEPs was arrested by Belgian police attempting to escape a forbidden orgy during lockdown by climbing down a drainpipe with drugs in his leopardskin underpants.
Incidentally, the pandemic crisis demonstrated how it’s possible to erect cross-border restrictions under Schengen if you want to, as many countries did at the time.
Sure that’s a feature not accident
So if a russian gets this visa, can they go anywhere in schengen, opening the path for the russian kgb to sabotage critical infrastructure in defending Ukraine. Or are there ways to prevent certain entries to a country?
Kick them out of Schengen.
European Council can recommend EU countries to introduce temporary border controls.
As Hungary is about to let Russian and Belorussian nationals to Schengen, we need a credible response to the threat.
I read the Schengen Regulation and found that this is not entirely up to the affected member states. The Council can, by a proposal from the Commission, recommend internal border checks in exceptional circumstances.
I think it is the time to write to the EU decision makers to have them recommend border checks around Hungary and their EU flight destinations, and as extra security recommend the checks also around the countries neighbouring Hungary.
Article 29:
“ 1. In exceptional circumstances where the overall functioning of the area without internal border control is put at risk as a result of persistent serious deficiencies relating to external border control as referred to in Article 21, and insofar as those circumstances constitute a serious threat to public policy or internal security within the area without internal border control or within parts thereof, border control at internal borders may be reintroduced in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article for a period of up to six months. That period may be prolonged, no more than three times, for a further period of up to six months if the exceptional circumstances persist. 2. The Council may, as a last resort and as a measure to protect the common interests within the area without internal border control, where all other measures, in particular those referred to in Article 21(1), are ineffective in mitigating the serious threat identified, recommend that one or more Member States decide to reintroduce border control at all or at specific parts of their internal borders. The Council’s recommendation shall be based on a proposal from the Commission. The Member States may request the Commission to submit such a proposal to the Council for a recommendation.”
Please be aware that this kind of residence permit is no different than the normal work permit that Hungary had before changing the law and types of the residence permit. It does not make it easier for “Russian spies” to obtain a residence permit in Hungary in compare to pre-2024 law.
When the consequences of this are pretty much EU pouring more billions into the Hungarian economy, there’s no incentive for people like Orban not to do stuff like that.
I think Orban has fallen so far into this sinkhole that if a new regular prime minister unrelated to him were elected, he and many members of his party and people related to him would end up in prison simply by virtue of the law and evidence of his actions.
Now he is playing on the syndrome of a besieged fortress, friendship with dictatorships under the guise of rationality, and perhaps sanctions on his country and ejection from NATO and the EU, which would allow him to be in power for many more years.
At this point, the Hungarians are in a very unfavorable position and it is in their own interest to throw Orban out and tear his clique away from power.
Building the invisble fence against spies
unanimous voting was a grave mistake. If we don’t get reforms, I fear the EU will slowly crumble.
It’s time for Hungary to leave eu and NATO.
EU need to kick Hungary out of Schengen. Also what about the spies that come to the EU as russian refugees?
Goodbye Hungary
It’s possible to kick Hungary out of Schengen. I think now would be a good time to do so.
Remove Schengen for Hungary. Let them rot.
At this point the only thing European countries can do it to put sanctiones on Hungary. Not as European Union but individual countries. Hold there import and export. Until Orban is no more.
41 comments
Orban chose his side long ago
This is my litmus test on whether European integration is a viable project or whether it was a pipe dream all along.
If Hungary doesn’t get (effectively) booted out of Schengen immediately following launching this policy, we might as well pack it up and end this farce.
>**A decision by Hungary to ease visa restrictions for Russians poses “serious national security concerns” as it opens the door to spies, the EU’s largest party has warned.**
>Earlier this month, Budapest published details of new visa rules that grant citizens of eight countries, including Russia and Belarus, permission to enter Hungary without security checks.
>Budapest noted that many of these citizens will be involved in building a nuclear reactor using Russian technology.
>Manfred Weber, the chairman of the European People’s Party, has written a letter to the European Council president, Charles Michel, raising concerns about Hungary’s “questionable” new fast-track visa system for Russians.
>Weber said this could “create grave loopholes for espionage activities, and potentially allow large numbers of Russians to enter Hungary with minimal supervision, posing a serious risk to national security”.
>Budapest’s move could also help Russians to travel around Europe’s borderless Schengen zone, and bypass “the restrictions required by EU law”, he added.
>**‘Stringent measures’ urged**
>Weber called on EU leaders “to adopt the most stringent measures to immediately protect the integrity of the Schengen area”.
>Under EU law, people from outside the bloc have to apply for a visa to be able to travel freely inside the Schengen zone, which covers 29 countries including Norway and Switzerland. However, national governments have the right to manage their own immigration systems and work permits.
>Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine at the start of 2022, the EU has imposed sanctions including travel bans and asset freezes on hundreds of Russian individuals who have connections to the Kremlin.
>Russian citizens can still move around the EU if they possess a visa and have no ties to Putin, but their movements are hampered because airlines based in Russia are not allowed to fly into the bloc.
>At the end of November 2022, Ukrainian authorities arrested a Russian agent on the Ukraine-Hungary border as he attempted to smuggle a flash drive with secret information hidden in his anus, according Balkan Insight, an investigative online media outlet.
>The drive contained sensitive information on senior staff at the Ukrainian security services, as well as about Ukrainian military bases and logistics. The spy had intended to hand this over to the Russian embassy in Budapest, Balkan Insight reported.
>**Soured relationship**
>Hungary’s relationship with Europe has soured since Budapest assumed the rotating presidency of the EU on July 1.
>Shortly after taking the helm, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, embarked on visits to Ukraine and Russia to allegedly broker a peace deal.
>The trips were widely criticized. The European Commission responded with a boycott of meetings between high-level EU officials and Hungary, while members of the European Parliament called for the country to be stripped of its voting rights at the EU Council.
>Source: The Financial Times, Balkan Insight, TVP World
Easy enough, close down the borders with Hungary. They want to play games with everyone they have to play ball.
Romania would never do anything like this, yet Hungry is in Schengen and we are now allowed to join.
People not surprised by Hungary
It was an order, what was orban supposed to do?
daddy putin sent a message and his lapdog went for it without hesitation and without any deeper consideration, apparently.
he took the money that came with conditions and there’s plenty of windows in Buda, even more in Pest.
We don’t need Hungary to invite spies into Europe. We already have a bunch, including: Gerhard Schröder, Matthias Platzeck, Wolfgang Reitzle, Karin Kneissl, Johann Gudenus, Wolfgang Schüssel, Jan Marsalek and many many more
Orban should be kicked in the nuts every time he is met by another person.
Orban is on a political suicide bombing operation.
traitors like this make me ill.
FUCKING DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS
This was well known to happen for some time now. My question is,why haven’t all the other EU countries instituted border controls with Hungary at the same time? We saw that it was possible during the pandemic.
European integration is only going to proceed once they get rid of national vetos. And seeing as even pro-integration states probably want to keep their vetos, it shows how dead in the water the dream of further union is.
In Other News: the Grass is Green
When are we kicking Orban out of the EU?
Hungary is landlocked, you know.
Russians enter in Schengen sooner than Romanians…
Almost literally a Trojan Horse. The EU really needs to do something against this. It’s too late to draw a line and say “till here and not an inch further”, since ‘here’ is already too far.
Suspending Schengen should be the minimum at least for this kind of crap
Urgh the European People’s Party, almost as bad as the People’s Party of Europe.
Hangary do what they want… Dunno why EU is so toothless..
Orban is a member of the EPP funnily enough. Maybe he’s too liberal for them but the EPP eventually suspended (not expelled) Fidez after one of their prominent MEPs was arrested by Belgian police attempting to escape a forbidden orgy during lockdown by climbing down a drainpipe with drugs in his leopardskin underpants.
[https://institutdelors.eu/en/publications/chronique-dune-rupture-le-depart-du-fidesz-du-groupe-ppe-au-parlement-europeen/]
Incidentally, the pandemic crisis demonstrated how it’s possible to erect cross-border restrictions under Schengen if you want to, as many countries did at the time.
Sure that’s a feature not accident
So if a russian gets this visa, can they go anywhere in schengen, opening the path for the russian kgb to sabotage critical infrastructure in defending Ukraine. Or are there ways to prevent certain entries to a country?
Kick them out of Schengen.
European Council can recommend EU countries to introduce temporary border controls.
As Hungary is about to let Russian and Belorussian nationals to Schengen, we need a credible response to the threat.
I read the Schengen Regulation and found that this is not entirely up to the affected member states. The Council can, by a proposal from the Commission, recommend internal border checks in exceptional circumstances.
I think it is the time to write to the EU decision makers to have them recommend border checks around Hungary and their EU flight destinations, and as extra security recommend the checks also around the countries neighbouring Hungary.
Article 29:
“ 1. In exceptional circumstances where the overall functioning of the area without internal border control is put at risk as a result of persistent serious deficiencies relating to external border control as referred to in Article 21, and insofar as those circumstances constitute a serious threat to public policy or internal security within the area without internal border control or within parts thereof, border control at internal borders may be reintroduced in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article for a period of up to six months. That period may be prolonged, no more than three times, for a further period of up to six months if the exceptional circumstances persist.
2. The Council may, as a last resort and as a measure to protect the common interests within the area without internal border control, where all other measures, in particular those referred to in Article 21(1), are ineffective in mitigating the serious threat identified, recommend that one or more Member States decide to reintroduce border control at all or at specific parts of their internal borders. The Council’s recommendation shall be based on a proposal from the Commission. The Member States may request the Commission to submit such a proposal to the Council for a recommendation.”
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32016R0399#d1e582-1-1
Please be aware that this kind of residence permit is no different than the normal work permit that Hungary had before changing the law and types of the residence permit. It does not make it easier for “Russian spies” to obtain a residence permit in Hungary in compare to pre-2024 law.
When the consequences of this are pretty much EU pouring more billions into the Hungarian economy, there’s no incentive for people like Orban not to do stuff like that.
I think Orban has fallen so far into this sinkhole that if a new regular prime minister unrelated to him were elected, he and many members of his party and people related to him would end up in prison simply by virtue of the law and evidence of his actions.
Now he is playing on the syndrome of a besieged fortress, friendship with dictatorships under the guise of rationality, and perhaps sanctions on his country and ejection from NATO and the EU, which would allow him to be in power for many more years.
At this point, the Hungarians are in a very unfavorable position and it is in their own interest to throw Orban out and tear his clique away from power.
Building the invisble fence against spies
unanimous voting was a grave mistake. If we don’t get reforms, I fear the EU will slowly crumble.
It’s time for Hungary to leave eu and NATO.
EU need to kick Hungary out of Schengen.
Also what about the spies that come to the EU as russian refugees?
Goodbye Hungary
It’s possible to kick Hungary out of Schengen. I think now would be a good time to do so.
Remove Schengen for Hungary. Let them rot.
At this point the only thing European countries can do it to put sanctiones on Hungary. Not as European Union but individual countries. Hold there import and export. Until Orban is no more.
I think at this point we can do without Hungary…
Kick Hungary out, put people at the borders.
Why do people keep voting for a traitor?