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Pope Francis urges Hungarians to ‘open doors’ to migrants

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Pope Francis has called on Hungary and its leaders to open their doors to migrants during his visit to the country. Speaking at an open-air mass in Budapest, he expressed his disappointment that doors were being closed to those who were different.

Despite Hungary’s anti-immigration stance, up to 100,000 people, including Prime Minister Viktor Orban, attended the mass. Pope Francis urged everyone, especially those with political and social responsibilities, to be more open towards migrants and the poor. During the mass, he also prayed for peace between Ukraine and Russia, who are currently at war.

On his flight back home, Pope Francis disclosed that the Vatican was involved in a peace mission to put an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, though he did not reveal the details of the mission yet. He also expressed his willingness to assist in the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia since the invasion.

During his three-day visit to Hungary, Pope Francis discussed the conflict in Ukraine with Prime Minister Viktor Orban and a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Pope’s visit to Hungary was his first since he became Pope 10 years ago, and it was driven by his support for Catholics and concern over the war in Ukraine.

Hungary shares a border with Ukraine, and Prime Minister Orban has maintained relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, refusing to support military aid for Ukraine unlike other leaders of the European Union. During his visit, the Pope met with people from all walks of life, including youths, the poor, politicians, and academics.

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EU rejects Ukraine grain bans by Poland and Hungary

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Poland and Hungary have implemented bans on Ukrainian grain imports to safeguard their domestic farming industries against low-priced imports. However, the European Commission has rejected these bans, stating that trade policy is not within the jurisdiction of individual member states. The ban covers various agricultural products including grains, dairy products, sugar, fruits, vegetables, and meats and will remain effective until the end of June.

The European Commission has not yet disclosed any actions it would take against Poland and Hungary for their bans on Ukrainian grain imports. The spokesperson emphasized the importance of aligning all decisions within the EU during challenging times.

Due to the disruption of export routes caused by Russia’s invasion last year, significant amounts of Ukrainian grain ended up in central Europe. A UN and Turkey-brokered deal with Russia allows Ukraine to continue exporting by sea, but it accuses Russia of causing delays with excessive inspections. Local farmers in Poland and Hungary complained of being undercut by cheaper Ukrainian grain flooding their markets, leading to the ban announced on Saturday. On Sunday, the Polish Economic Development and Technology Minister clarified that the ban would apply to goods in transit as well as those remaining in Poland.

The Polish Economic Development and Technology Minister, Waldemar Buda, has urged for negotiations with Ukraine to establish a system that guarantees exports pass through Poland and do not flood the local market. Ukraine claims that this action is in violation of bilateral trade agreements.

The country’s Agriculture Ministry stated that it has always been supportive of Poland’s agricultural sector and has responded quickly to various difficulties. The Ministry added that unilateral and extreme measures would not expedite a positive outcome. Ministers from both countries are scheduled to meet on Monday in Poland to discuss the matter.

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Conservative Europeans block Covid recovery fund

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Two conservative European countries, Hungary and Poland, have blocked the Covid-19 recovery fund, introduced to help those countries which were destroyed by the virus outbreak.

The European Union budget has been stopped using a clause that ties funding with adherence to the rule of law in the bloc.

Had the budget been passed, those countries which were devastated by the virus outbreak would have received a strong financial support of €750bn.

The EU functions on the basis of consensus. Each and every member has the right to veto European Union Budget.

The EU consists of over 27 member countries.

Hungary and Poland have used their veto power to block the budget.

Actually, these two conservative countries are not in a good relation with the rest of the European Union countries.

 The EU is currently investigating both countries for undermining the independence of courts, media and non-governmental organisations.

EU states had already agreed on the €1.1tn budget for 2021-2027, and the coronavirus stimulus package after a marathon four-day summit in July.

It is yet to been seen how the EU will handle the present crisis.

The EU is at the edge of a possible collapse. Already, the Covid-19 affected countries are angry with the EU for not coming to its rescue in a timely manner.

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ECJ pulls up Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic over refugee issue

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The European Court of Justice has pulled up Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic as It has found these countries have failed to respect the EU law as it has not taken in refugees under an agreement reached by the EU leaders to ease the burden faced by Italy and Greece.

The agreement was supposed to benefit 160,000 refugees – especially those from the embattled country of Syria, and was supposed to bring a huge relief to overcrowded camps in Italy and Greece.

Now, the EU Commission is free to impose fines over these countries for the crimes they have committed by disrespecting the EU law.

The court has declined to accept these countries’ argument that the acceptance of refugees would create huge security issues in their country.

So far, the Czech Republic has accepted not more than 12 of the 2,000 refugees it had been asked to take in, while Hungary and Poland have not taken in a single person yet.


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Hungary in severe political crisis

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The European country of Hungary is at present in serious political crisis. The ruling wants unrestricted power in their hands to fight the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, the opposition stays committed to oppose with tooth and nail any attempt to place more power in the hands of the ruling.

The matter is now under the consideration of the Hungarian Parliament. With an impressive majority in the Parliament, it will not be difficult for the ruling to pass the bill in the Parliament.

Recently, a petition, with more than one lakh signatories, was made to oppose the attempt to offer more power in the hands of the ruling.

The population of the country has a mixed opinion on the matter. A section supports the logic put forth by the ruling that with less power on their hand the ruling has many limitations to confront this medical emergency at present. Meanwhile, some are worried about the threat posed by the expansion of power on the democratic framework of the country – particularly on the freedom of speech and expression (in other words, the freedom of press).

It is hard to believe that the ruling will misuse the situation. At the same time, considering its recent records, it is not easy to believe it will not misuse it either.


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Hungary to offer free fertility treatment

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In a bid to boost its population growth, the European country of Hungary has decided to offer free fertility treatment facility to its citizens.

Recently, many fertility clinics were taken over by the Hungarian government.

For Hungary, improving its population growth is a state policy. The rightist government in the country prefers procreation over immigration as a policy to check demographic decline.

The fertility clinics were taken over as a part of the policy of the Hungarian rightist government.

The latest announcement is also a part of the aforesaid policy which Hungary enthusiastically follows.

The population of the country has been consistently falling for the last few years. There is no sign of improvement in the population growth at this juncture.

The new policy is likely to overturn the scenario. The government expects that once the policy is implemented a huge change can be achieved in this front.

The new policy is expected to be implemented from the first of February.

Some see the policy as the one originated out of the fear of the right-wing government towards the ability of migration to alter the demographic pattern of the country.

At this moment, it remains unclear who all will benefit from the project.


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