Migration questionnaire exposes the 'illiberal state' of Hungary

Do you agree that Brussels's policy on immigration and terrorism has failed, so we need a new approach to these questions? Or that economic migrants jeopardise jobs and livelihoods? Or that more stringent immigration regulations are needed and that illegal migrants should be taken into custody?

These are three questions from the Hungarian government's latest "National Consultation". Every adult voter, around eight million people, will be given the chance to answer a 12-point questionnaire on immigration and the threat of terrorism, with a choice of three answers: very relevant, relevant or not relevant. The questionnaire is accompanied by a letter from Viktor Orban, the prime minister.

"Brussels has failed to address immigration appropriately," writes Orban, "so Hungary must follow its own path" and "must not allow economic migrants to jeopardise the jobs
and livelihoods of Hungarians".

Opposition politicians and media critics have condemned the exercise as xenophobic, biased and unnecessary. The consultation costs 960 million forints, around €3m, money that would be better spent, they say, on Hungary's infrastructure.

The language of the consultation caused anger in Brussels. Frans Timmerman, First Vice-President of the European Commission, wrote a searing critique on Facebook, accusing the Hungarian government of posing "leading and even misleading questions" about immigrants. "Framing immigration in the context of terrorism, depicting migrants as a threat to jobs and the livelihood of people, is malicious and simply wrong ... It is wilfully misleading to present migrants only as a burden to our economies and societies without any mention of their contribution."

Hungary's consultation, one of several on issues of national concern, is fuelling growing concerns about the Orban government's political direction. His Right-wing Fidesz party won an unprecedented second two-thirds majority in April 2014, and triumphed in local and European elections. Three months later, Orban laid out his vision. Hungary would remain a democracy but not a liberal one. "The new state we are constructing in Hungary is an illiberal state, a non-liberal state."

Orban has remained true to his word, but Fidesz is still losing support to the far-Right Jobbik party. Already nipping at Fidesz's heels in opinion polls, last month Jobbik triumphed in a by-election, capturing a former Fidesz stronghold.

Jobbik is strongly anti-immigration. Thus far immigration has not been a hot-button issue. Hungary's immigrant communities, mainly from China, Turkey and Vietnam, remain small in comparison to western Europe. But the political agenda could change rapidly, says Akos Balogh,
of mandiner.hu, a conservative news portal. "Illegal immigration can explode at any time and become a hot topic. Fidesz is starting to consider Jobbik as a potential challenger and is trying to respond to this new situation."

Hungary is under siege, say officials, and Europe's immigration system is broken. In 2014 41,366 people applied for asylum in Hungary, says the UN. In the first four months of this year alone, a further 39,000 crossed its southern and eastern frontiers. Hungary, a country of 10 million, is bearing a disproportionate amount of Europe's burden, say government officials. Britain received 31,263 applications in 2014 and the Czech Republic just 922.

In Hungary less than 10% of applications are approved, says government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs. "Not all illegal migrants are refugees in the usual sense. They are not entitled to refugee status because they are not being persecuted. They are coming because they would like to live a better life and that is what we believe should be regulated."

Once the migrants have been processed by officials they are free to move on. Hungary is inside the Schengen Zone of visa-free travel, so the vast majority of migrants head west to Austria and Germany or north to Scandinavia. Many fall off the authorities' radar, working and living illegally.

Europe is facing not just an immigration crisis but potential security and health threats, says Kovacs. "This is a serious national security issue. There is a real danger that those coming in from Syria or North Africa could well be mingled in with terrorists." Such concerns are shared across the continent. But the Hungarian government's inflammatory language, say critics, is more likely to muffle reasoned debate about Europe's frontiers than foster it.