Hungary's visa relaxation opening door for Russian spies, leader of biggest group in EP claims

The Hungarian government's recently introduced easing of visa restrictions for – among others – Russian citizens is an open door for spies, the Financial Times quotes Manfred Weber as saying. The German politician, who heads the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) family of parties and its parliamentary group in the European Parliament (EP), argued that the measures raised "serious national security concerns".

As we reported earlier, last December, the Hungarian Parliament adopted a proposal for an overhaul of the current rules on the entry and residence of non-EU nationals in Hungary. The government justified the change by saying that the previous legislation, adopted in 2007 needed to be amended because it was adopted before the migration waves. According to them, in case of the old legislation "the guiding principle was admission, and even in the case of illegality on the part of the foreigner, the primary concern was to guarantee their rights" rather than "enforce lawful behavior".

The newly adopted legislation introduced the so-called National Card, which entitles the holder to reside in Hungary for a fixed period of more than 90 days within 180 days, but for a maximum of two years, and is valid for a maximum of two years. Among other countries, the document can be issued to citizens of Russia and Belarus if they possess the required qualifications.

"I don't see why we need to open up the Hungarian labour market to an unspecified number of Russians," Russia expert András Rácz told Forbes shortly after the decision. Hungary is part of the Schengen zone which has no internal border controls, meaning that those who enter the country can in principle cross into other member states unhindered (although several EU countries have been circumventing this rule by continuously extending temporary border checks).

According to the FT, in his letter, Weber described the new Hungarian system as questionable, saying it "created grave loopholes for espionage activities and allowed large numbers of Russians to enter Hungary with minimal supervision, posing a serious national security risk". The new regime "could also make it easier for Russians to move around the Schengen area, evading" restrictions in EU law.

In the letter addressed to Charles Michel, president of the European Council, Weber requested

that EU leaders “adopt the most stringent measures to immediately protect the integrity of the [border-free] Schengen area, limit the security risk that has already arisen and prevent member states from taking similar initiatives in the future”.

Neither the Hungarian government nor Michel's spokesperson commented on the letter.

Weber heads the European People's Party, which Fidesz left in 2021 after it was suspended, while KDNP (the smaller party in the Hungarian governing coalition) left in June this year after the Tisza MEPs, including Péter Magyar, whose person KDNP finds unacceptable were admitted to the group.