Tensions are mounting between Ukraine and Hungary after a top Ukrainian official claimed that Moscow had warned Budapest of its plans to invade Ukraine. The accusations follow allegations that Hungary has inflated the number of Ukrainians actually residing in Hungary in order to receive more EU aid.
Hasib Qarizada was a self-financed student from Afghanistan who had an established life in Budapest. After the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, he filed an asylum application. What happened after is a stark example of Hungary's anti-migrant policies.
Father Imre Kozma, the founder of charity services for the Order of Malta in Hungary, spoke to ANSA about the organization's work to register and help Ukrainian refugees. "We help everybody, we are not a political organization," he said.
The Hungarian village of Beregsurany near the Ukrainian border has welcomed many refugees in recent weeks. As people fleeing the war continue to arrive at a reception center set up by the Order of Malta, they are given help and short-term lodgings before they continue their journeys.
The warm welcome extended to Ukrainian refugees by EU countries that otherwise take a strict anti-immigrant stance has highlighted the stark differences in the treatment of people from Ukraine and those from non-European war zones. In Hungary the contrast is especially apparent, as the example of an Afghan student shows.
The German foreign minister called on the EU on Monday to establish air bridges to help evacuate Ukrainians from their besieged country and transport them to host countries, including across the Atlantic. Several train operators and air companies are already offering free tickets for those with Ukrainian passports.
After Poland, Hungary has taken in the largest number of people fleeing Ukraine. Most of the refugees are being cared for, not by the government, but by citizens and volunteers.
As a result of the war in Ukraine, more than 140,000 refugees have already arrived in Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has changed his position on migration and pledged to aid the war refugees. Where to send them is a very large problem, however, as reception facilities in the country have in recent years been dismantled.
On the border between Ukraine and Hungary, the town of Zahony has welcomed many Ukrainians and foreign students from the neighboring country fleeing the Russian attack. For more than a week, the train station of this small border town has been crowded with packed trains bringing war refugees from Ukraine and those that transport them on to Budapest.
The European Union wants to take in millions of refugees from Ukraine, in a move that could inadvertently shift the decades-old fight over asylum and migration policy. Bernd Riegert reports from Brussels.
Hungary has taken in the second-largest number of people fleeing Ukraine behind Poland. But the government, notorious for its strict anti-immigration laws, has made it clear that hospitality would only be extended to those "legally staying on the territory of Ukraine".
As the number of people fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine reaches the one million mark, more and more European countries have offered to take in refugees. Among them are Hungary and Greece, which are otherwise known for their tough stance on migration.