Regarding the issue of immigration, parallels can be drawn between Hungary’s struggle with Brussels and the U.S. state of Texas’ ongoing battle with Washington D.C., Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga said in an interview during her visit to the Lone Star State.
Sitting down with The Dallas Express earlier this week, Varga, who will be stepping down as justice minister at the end of July to focus on the upcoming EU elections, described the similarities she sees in how both Texas and Hungary have confronted border security, with conservative administrations in both territories fighting to protect their borders in the face of their respective liberal establishments in Brussels and Washington.
“We believe in family, we believe in national sovereignty, and we don’t think that mass illegal migration is a good thing for our future,” Varga told the news outlet. This stance will strike a chord with Texan Governor Greg Abbott who has been at odds with the liberal approach to immigration advocated by both the Biden administration and echoed by his counterparts in several Democrat-governed states, including California and New York.
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“We respect others, and we also expect respect for our national policy, which is supported by a large majority of voters, so this is the basis of how we implement this very strong border,” Varga said of the Hungarian position. She explained to U.S. readers how Hungary — a bastion of conservatism in Europe — is continuously “being slapped in the face” by Eurocrats who seek to ride roughshod over national sovereignty.
“We are pushing back mass illegal migration because we are protecting not only the Hungarian borders but also the European border, the so-called Schengen border,” she added.
Varga also sought to explain how the Hungarian government reconciles the country’s religious beliefs with its hard-line approach to immigration, a dilemma often put to Texas’ Republican administration, which prides itself on its devout Christianity.
“We are human beings. We are Christians. We have a heart, and we know that there is a real refugee and asylum situation,” the minister said.
“Since the outbreak of the war, we have admitted more than 1.5 million genuine asylum seekers from Ukraine,” she added, distinguishing between the government’s moral duty to help those truly in need and waves of illegal migrants at its border, against whom it must protect its citizens.
“We said no to mass migration in a referendum. We conducted a public consultation with our citizens, and this is the key to our success, that we stand by the people,” Varga added.
