I was actually planning this feature for quite some time now, I just wish I could launch it with some less difficult topic. The idea is that I take an article I read and write the first five sentences that come to mind about the issue it covers. Meaning I don’t just write about that particular article, but mainly my opinion and whatever else comes to mind.
Now about this first topic, it was very hard to do just that. Because I struggled to stop at five sentences, and because just yesterday I got criticized for being silent about this current issue, I am making an exception (right at the very first time) and further explicate my opinion.
The past week’s events in Hungary were at times hard to explain and interpret even for skillful analysts of the Orbán government. In my opinion the government’s response was a mixture of quite a few things: eagerness of emphasizing that migrants are not welcome is one of them. Unpreparedness is another, I think the government was really taken by surprise by the amount of refugees flooding the streets of Hungary and the acceleration of events afterwards. And in many ways the lack of coordinated effort on behalf of the European Union also added to the confusion in Budapest.
None of the above is an excuse for inhospitality, though. This was (perhaps still is) a chance to decide whether Hungary wants to be a country where people are eager to come and stay or a country that people consider best to avoid. Hungary choose to be the latter and that I personally find extremely disappointing.
In the past few weeks, the government choose to use the images of desperate crowds
to spread its xenophobic views further. The state media is full of stories of how disturbing, dirty, untidy trouble-makers these “different” people are. Whether there is a hassle or any kind of disorderly conduct in the camps or train stations, it is keenly reported on, but the state media never reports about stories of humanity, of helpfulness of these people and how they are just seeking to live their lives without fear.
I still believe that welcoming people of different cultural and religious backgrounds would not hurt anyone. No matter what circumstances forced them to leave their homes, if they enter our borders with the intention of making a living by hard work and integrating into our communities, we must welcome them. I am a firm believer that Europe as a whole would benefit from opening borders and doors (and hearts).
I am still considering a longer, legal analysis of this current situation in Europe, this was just a quick response for the last days’ events. Any questions and comments are welcome, as always.
