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Did you know: Hungary has a ‘Stop Soros law’ to outlaw illegal immigration

In June 2018, Hungary's parliament passed a set of laws criminalising anyone who aids an illegal immigrant in seeking asylum.

Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros had recently courted controversy for falsely accusing the Modi government of colluding with the Adani Group. While he has drawn the wrath of Indians for eyeing a colour revolution in the country, it must be mentioned that he is equally unwelcome in his home country.

As per reports, the Hungarian government wanted to limit the power of George Soros, who is infamously known to create unrest in countries through his Open Society Foundation (OSF). PM Viktor Orbán is of the view that the billionaire is orchestrating a campaign to destroy Hungary via illegal immigration.

Orbán had famously said, “We are fighting an enemy that is different from us. Not open, but hiding; not straightforward but crafty; not honest but base; not national but international; does not believe in working but speculates with money; does not have its own homeland but feels it owns the whole world.”

Stop Soros law came into existence in 2018

In June 2018, Hungary’s parliament passed a set of laws criminalizing anyone who aided an illegal immigrant in seeking asylum. The legislation also limited the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in asylum cases.

The law, commonly known as “Stop Soros,” stated that individuals or groups, who help illegal migrants obtain status to remain in Hungary, would face imprisonment. It was passed despite the objections raised by the European Union and human rights groups’ objections.

Additionally, the parliament passed a constitutional amendment stating that Hungary cannot accept an “alien population,” a rebuke to Brussels over its migrant quota plan. Prime minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, which had a two-thirds majority in the chamber, proposed and passed the measures.

“The Hungarian people rightfully expect the government to use all means necessary to combat illegal immigration and the activities that aid it,” the then Interior Minister Sandor Pinter had stated.

Hungarian PM firmly against illegal immigration

In December 2021, Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary would not amend its strict immigration laws despite a ruling by the European Union’s top court claiming that the Central European country violated EU law.

The EU Court of Justice had ruled, “Hungary infringed EU law by criminalizing organizing activities in relation to the initiation of a procedure for international protection by persons not fulfilling the national criteria for granting that protection asylum.”

Orbán argued that the verdict was sabotaging the unity and future of the European Union. He stated that Hungary would continue to protect its borders and not change its laws, despite the possibility of incurring hefty fines.

in July 2022, the Hungarian Prime Minister said, “I am the only politician in the EU who stands for an openly anti-immigration policy…This is not a race issue for us, this is a cultural issue.”

“It happens sometimes that I say something in a way that can be misunderstood but …the position I stand for, is a cultural, civilization (based) stance,” he emphasized.

No guilt in association with Nazi Godfather: George Soros

Amidst the social media chatter around George Soros, a 1998 interview of the Hungarian-American billionaire with journalist Steve Kroft on ’60 minutes Australia’ has been doing the rounds on the internet.

At the very onset, Kroft noted, “When the Nazis occupied Budapest in 1944, George Soros’ father was a successful lawyer. He lived on an island in the Danube and liked to commute to work in a rowboat, but knowing there were problems ahead for the Jews, he decided to split his family up.”

He emphasized how Soros’ father bribed a government official to supposedly accept the billionaire as his ‘Christian Godson’ when he was a teenager.

Kroft noted, “While hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews were being shipped off to the death camps, George Soros accompanied his fake Godfather on his appointed rounds, confiscating property from the Jews.”

When he quizzed the billionaire about the event, Soros downplayed it by claiming he was a teen and that someone else would have done the same things anyway even if he refused to participate. It must be mentioned that the billionaire was 68 years old at the time of the controversial interview.

“You watched lots of people get shipped off to the death camps?” Kroft inquired. Soros calmly said, “Right, I was 14 years old, and I would say that that’s when my character was made…That one should think ahead, one should understand and anticipate events when one is threatened.”

The billionaire also responded with an affirmation when asked whether he accompanied his Nazi Godfather in confiscating Jewish properties. When asked if he had developed psychiatric issues on account of his involvement, he said that it created ‘no problem at all.’

George Soros categorically stated he had no guilt about his association with the man. “I could be on the other side or I could be the one from whom the thing is being taken away…but there was no sense that I shouldn’t be there,” he said casually.

“It is just like in markets, that if I weren’t there. Of course, I wasn’t doing it, but somebody else would be taking it away anyhow whether I was there or not,” he further added.

Towards the end, he asserted, “I was only a spectator. The property was being taken away. I had no role in taking away the property. I had no sense of guilt.

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