Hungary to consult public on alleged Soros migrant plan
Budapest targets philanthropist over supposed scheme to flood Europe with immigrants
Hungary’s rightwing government is launching a “national consultation” on an alleged plan by George Soros to flood Europe with immigrants, in a sign that the billionaire philanthropist will be a target in the ruling Fidesz party’s campaign to be elected for a third term next spring.
Government officials confirmed that a budget has been earmarked to send a questionnaire and an explanatory letter to about 8m voters concerning the Hungary-born Mr Soros’ supposed views.
Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, has claimed there is a “Soros plan” to force Hungary and other European nations to accept more migrants. “It is an action plan that describes exactly how disobedient, non-immigrant central European countries should be transformed into immigrant countries,” Mr Orban told a gathering of religious leaders in parliament this week.
The announcement of the campaign against Mr Soros shows Mr Orban’s determination to shrug off international criticism, as tensions rise over Hungary’s clashes with Brussels over refugees and the rule of law, as well as the government’s clampdown on universities and NGOs that receive foreign funding.
Mr Orban has intensified his attacks on Mr Soros — a one-time benefactor who funded a scholarship for him in 1989 — and on EU officials, who the Hungarian leader alleges are complicit.
Leaders of Fidesz, Mr Orban’s party, claim Mr Soros wants to convince Europe to accept 1m immigrants annually to meet labour market needs or bolster the voter base of leftwing groups. According to Mr Orban, EU officials actively implement the plan because they “eat from Soros’ hand”.
“What we call the ‘Soros plan’ is an alien, completely different vision to what we believe should be the path for the EU, especially in migration,” Zoltan Kovacs, government spokesman, told the FT.
The allegations were rejected by Goran Buldioski, director of the Budapest-based Open Society Initiative for Europe, part of a group of foundations created by Mr Soros. “The challenges on migration faced at the moment have nothing to do with George Soros and the Open Society Foundations,” he said, describing the planned consultation as an attempt to distract from the Orban government’s shortcomings.
The wording of the consultation, set for October, has not been decided but previous surveys have been criticised for leading questions that manipulate public opinion, rather than accurately sample it. An April survey entitled “Lets Stop Brussels,” accused the EU of promoting illegal immigration and opposing tax cuts and measures to create jobs. The survey, which was accompanied by a nationwide advertising campaign, was dismissed as “highly misleading” by the European Commission.
Later the government unveiled a billboard campaign featuring Mr Soros, which local Jewish groups said risked “unleashing anti-Semitic passions”.
Officials counter that the questionnaires are a democratic method of consultation, allowing government to fine-tune policymaking in line with the public mood.
Analysts say that Mr Orban’s government, which faces a weak and fragmented opposition, is seeking to conjure a powerful adversary in the form of Mr Soros to rally its supporters and gain a third successive term in power.
Edit Zgut, analyst at Political Capital, a Budapest think-tank, said: “Fidesz’s aim is to kill two birds with one stone: to channel the frustration of ultra-conservative voters towards the EU and to emphasise that migration is the ‘real reason’ behind western accusations that Mr Orban has weakened the rule of law.”
Budapest alleges that details of Mr Soros’ plan are included in an opinion column he published on projectsyndicate.org and that Hungarian NGOs and the European Commission are expected to implement its objectives. In a column published on the website in September last year, Mr Soros argued the EU could reduce illegal migration by strengthening its external borders and committing to accept 300,000 refugees annually.
Mr Soros also urged member states to agree common refugee policies but he argued against compulsory refugee quotas, which are now the subject of a legal battle between Budapest and Brussels. “The EU cannot coerce member states to accept refugees they do not want, or refugees to go where they are not wanted,” he wrote.