The West must stop bullying Hungary and Central Europe

"Even more misplaced is the vehement international denunciation of Central Europe on account of its attempt to manage the migrant crisis. These countries are criticized for opposing quotas, for not showing European solidarity and for not wanting to take their “fair share” of solving this “European” problem. They are reproached for their ungratefulness for the goodness and generosity the West allegedly bestowed on them.

Hungary has again been distinguished by special treatment. In an outpouring of shrill criticism reverberating all over the world, the country is being called everything and anything from xenophobic to fascist. The frenzy bears an uncanny resemblance to the wave of international hysteria in early 2012 when media organs and public figures were outdoing one another vilifying Hungary and openly advocating “regime change”, of course, in the name of defending “democracy”.

Hungary is now being vilified for trying to apply EU rules by registering migrants as best she can. There are endless reports about police teargas, none about migrants provoking it by throwing stones at the Hungarian police. And of course, there is considerably less coverage of French police using teargas against migrants in Calais. In Hungary, no migrant hostels have been attacked or set on fire, as happens frequently in Germany. European values? Surely a fair and objective media should be part of the story?

The accusations against Central Europe are both false and hypocritical.

The present surge of mass migration is predominantly a result of Western power politics. Central Europe was until relatively recently colonised and now it is not a major political player in the EU. Now, for the sake of European solidarity, the region is called upon to share the heavy consequences of international political games it played no part in."