Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has released a new video on X (formerly Twitter) portraying Hungary as “the safest place” in Europe – primarily, he says, because “there are no migrants”. The campaign clearly targets foreign tourists, and the video claims that the government is paying a daily fine of EUR 1 million to Brussels in order to keep illegal immigrants out.
The footage is styled like a classic Christmas postcard: snow-covered landscapes, Budapest rooftops, the Christmas tree in front of Parliament, and cheerful families. As We Wish You a Merry Christmas plays, on-screen captions proclaim that Hungary is paying the EU fine “for its own safety and for Europe’s”. The video’s closing message reads: “Hungary. Your safe place in Europe. Merry Christmas!”
The reality: the EU fine has nothing to do with keeping migrants out
Contrary to the government’s messaging, the European Commission did not launch an infringement procedure against Hungary because the country refuses to admit migrants. The issue was Hungary’s violation of EU asylum regulations, as Telex notes.
According to the Commission, Hungarian legislation – especially the operation of the transit zones – did not provide asylum seekers proper access to the necessary procedures and violated their rights to legal remedy. In these zones, asylum seekers were unlawfully detained.
The case reached the Court of Justice of the European Union, which condemned Hungary in December 2020. Although the government closed the transit zones, Hungarian laws have still not been fully aligned with the ruling.
💶 A Brusselian fine of €1 million/day for keeping illegal migrants out?
✅ We’ll pay it. For our safety, and yours.
☝️ Better than living in fear.
🎄 This Christmas, experience Europe the way it should be, in Hungary. pic.twitter.com/6QapoLSIII— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) November 22, 2025
A record fine and a growing daily burden
Because the infringement has not been remedied, the European Commission returned to the Court last year to enforce the judgment. In June 2024, the Court issued its decision:
Hungary was ordered to pay a lump sum of EUR 200 million, plus a further EUR 1 million for every day the government fails to fully comply with the ruling, 24.hu reports.
Converted into forints, this means an extra cost of more than HUF 400 million per day for the state (although due to the recently lower EUR/HUF exchange rate, it currently stands at around HUF 385 million per day).
A domestic political message turned into a country-branding campaign?
Orbán’s video emphasises the notion of a “migrant-free” Hungary, despite the fact that the EU fine has nothing to do with allowing or preventing migrants from entering the country. Instead, the penalty concerns violations related to asylum procedures.
Featured image: Facebook/Orbán Viktor
That is weird. Every delivery guy i received is not from the EU. I am not asking them if they are legally here or not cause is not my business but is “crystal clear” they are immigrants
With that said, i am still waiting for Michelle steiner to sign up for wolt and being my meal, i would be happy to provide tips in euro to him
Those who work for WOLT are fully registered partners, and if they dont have any of the required papers they will be contracted.
Simple as that. So dont ever think that a delivery guy is a possible illegal person, but more likely they are student and doing it as a flexible part-time job.
Regarding Steiner, I am waiting still to get my next order from him 🤣.
There’s nothing misleading with the exception of the source of the story. That source is always misleading.
Orban effectively reduced migration of peoples that are incompatible with Western Civilization. Technical spin dots not change the results.
The price Hungary pays is well worth it. Hungarian women, unlike women across Western Europe, will not find themselves having uninvited impromptu sex with swarthy men of fighting age. Moreover, Hungarian women will keep their front teeth intact.
BS
Sad facts about Hungary and violence towards women:
“In Hungary, 49 % of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by any perpetrator since the age of 15. This is 18 percentage points higher than the EU-27 average (31 %).
56 % of women have experienced health consequences of physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15.”
https://eige.europa.eu/gender-equality-index/2024/domain/violence/HU
If you define “violance agaimst women” as “asked for a date”, your stats are true.
But I define violance against women more along the lines of what the Pakistani grooming gangs are doing in the West.
Neither I nor the stats defined “asked for a date” as violence.
Verified facts are always hard to accept for Fidesz members and supporters.
It feels strange that every time I receive a delivery, the delivery person is never from the EU. I don’t ask them whether they are here legally or not, because I believe that’s not my responsibility. However, it is quite clear that they are immigrants. Even so, I am still waiting for Michelle Steiner to sign up for Wolt and eventually be the one delivering my meals. If that ever happens, I would be more than happy to give him tips in euros.
Hungary is doing an excellent job of keeping migrants out! They have a very strong leader who values are in line with the people of Hungary! Their PM is similar to President Trump and the people want a safe, clean country! Thankfully they have a strong leader!
The same issue as always. Orbn rarely clarifies if he is talking about legal or illegla. I see hundreds of immigrants in Budapest everyday . But keep dreaming hungary is migration free
Exactly! So-called “conservatieve” like Orbán always talk about illegal migrants while in the meantime “guest workers” and legal migrant numbers are growing. The same rhetoric is used by civil nationalist in Western Europe.
“the European Commission did not launch an infringement procedure against Hungary because the country refuses to admit migrants. The issue was Hungary’s violation of EU asylum regulation”
Lol. You seriously imagine those aren’t synonyms?
I was expecting more of you.
The Christmas campaign video is a piece of political propaganda designed for domestic and international consumption. It transforms a legal penalty for human rights violations into a heroic story of a government paying a price to protect its people. While Hungary, like all nations, has the right to control its borders, it must do so within the framework of international and European law, which it voluntarily committed to when it joined the EU. The €1 million daily fine is the direct cost of its refusal to do so, not a badge of honor for keeping the country safe.
This is an interesting piece that perfectly demonstrates how political lies can be transformed into a country’s Christmas image! It is striking that the government is willing to pay a million euros in fines every day (which has nothing to do with combating migrants) just for the sake of internal propaganda.
But even more striking is the financial side of the issue — 200 million euros one-time plus 1 million every day! That’s a crazy amount of money being thrown away from the budget.
When it comes to risks and large sums of money, it is better to take risks yourself than to have the government do it at your expense. By the way, if anyone is interested in where to win a million (but your own, not the state’s), I sometimes visit this site: [url=”https://winshark-casino.ca/”]winshark-casino.ca[/url] . Although it is difficult to win millions there, there is still a chance. The Hungarian government, on the other hand, is already losing its million every day, and this is an example of how not to manage a budget!
Это интересный материал, который прекрасно демонстрирует, как политическая ложь может превратиться в рождественский образ страны! Поразительно, что правительство готово платить миллион евро штрафов каждый день (что никак не связано с борьбой с мигрантами) только ради внутренней пропаганды. Но ещё более поразительна финансовая сторона вопроса — 200 миллионов евро единовременно и ещё по миллиону ежедневно! Это просто сумасшедшая сумма, выброшенная из бюджета. Когда речь идёт о рисках и крупных суммах, лучше рисковать самому, чем позволить государству делать это за ваш счёт. Кстати, если кому-то интересно, где выиграть миллион (но свой, а не государственный), я иногда захожу на этот сайт: https://winshark-casino.ca/ . Хотя там сложно выиграть миллионы, шанс всё же есть. Венгерское правительство, с другой стороны, уже теряет свои миллионы каждый день, и это пример того, как не надо управлять бюджетом!
Stop lying. Orbán is 100% right here. So-called refugees enter Germany after crossing several safe states, they throw away their papers and claim asylum and can not be deported. That is the usual pattern in Germany. Brussels is punishing Hungary for preventing this.