Which language would you like to use this site in The Pakistani man in his fifties lay lifeless beside a train track a few hundred metres from Bicske train station but he was trying to find a better life in Europe Both men were part of a larger group running away from a train that had been halted since yesterday in the Hungarian train station Many other refugees and migrants are still refusing to leave the train because they don’t want to go to Hungarian reception centres at the main Keleti station in Budapest and in Bicske I witnessed a new low in the cruelty of the treatment of refugees in Hungary After being barred from boarding trains for days the police at Keleti suddenly lifted the barriers Hundreds of people rushed to a train decorated with silhouettes hugging and celebrating and a prominently featured German flag Many people desperate to leave Hungary after being stuck for days in dire conditions around the train station believed this train would take them to Germany where scenes of residents welcoming refugees have beamed around the world in recent days The carriages quickly filled and at about 11am the train departed A Palestinian refugee from Syria who was on the train told me what happened: The police announced that we have to disembark otherwise they would use force opened the doors and started walking to the platform I decided to escape so I walked away and continued along the railways hoping I was heading in the direction of Austria But I was walking back to Budapest instead Eventually I gave up and took a taxi back to Keleti [train station] for 30 euros.” The retreat to Keleti must have been devastating for him as he knew only too well what awaited Crowds of people have been stuck waiting at the station for days covered by their clothes and blankets or sheltered by tents distributed by volunteers Nearby fast-food chains have turned into the main providers of sanitation facilities as well as what options and rights people have Hungary’s government washes its hands of Keleti and the wider situation of refugees in the country They argue that the refugees don’t want to stay there anyway But I don’t blame the refugees for wanting to leave their interactions with the Hungarian institutions are fraught Refugees referred to the facilities in the border area as “prisons” and “Guantánamo” and they told me about rough treatment by the police officers the lack of food and water and a refusal to provide access to sanitation facilities came to Hungary on 14 August together with her son and his wife who is seven months pregnant Border police detained them for 16 hours without giving them food or water Dina had already bought train tickets to Germany “I want to start a new life in peace… They are treating us like animals; worse than animals.” I want to start a new life in peace… They are treating us like animals; worse than animals After registering their asylum applications in the border area asylum seekers are given papers to sign which assign them to a reception centre Most people we spoke to decided not to go to the centres I keep hearing the same answers: because these places are completely full because of bad experiences in the border facilities Amnesty International was denied permission to visit the reception centres so we can only assume what those who were inside them tell us is true Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the European Parliament yesterday that “Talking about a [refugee] quota system without border control is an invitation for those who would like to come [Creating] an impression that we would be able to accept everybody would be a moral failure.” the lack of assistance to people around the stations and on trains the inadequate reception conditions and recent legislative reforms all have the same root cause: the desire to keep new arrivals out they are generating a raft of human rights violations The latest in a series of laws targeting migrants and refugees includes prison sentences for illegal border crossing and stiff sentences for damaging the border fence to name but a few of Hungary’s latest initiatives war and persecution were what drove them to leave their home countries in the first place they should not have to embark on yet another dangerous or even deadly journey Until European leaders finally agree on significant changes to Europe’s imploding asylum system refugees will remain unwanted and unassisted in Hungary they have no access to the protection they need Together we can fight for human rights everywhere Your donation can transform the lives of millions If you are talented and passionate about human rights then Amnesty International wants to hear from you Hundreds refuse to leave train at Bicske station with many declining food and water and vowing to go on hunger strike if they are not taken to Germany Hundreds of people remained on a train in the Hungarian town of Bicske over Thursday night following a botched attempt by authorities to move on some of the thousands gathered in Budapest’s main railway station The Hungarian authorities earlier appeared to trick hundreds of people into taking a train to a refugee camp outside Budapest in an attempt to end a two-day standoff at the station where thousands have been trying to get to western Europe There was confusion at Keleti rail terminus in the morning when departures were initially cancelled and then passengers piled on to a newly arrived train they hoped would take them to Austria or Germany where riot police were waiting to take the refugees to an overcrowded facility that many had left a few days earlier in the hope of finding sanctuary in Germany There were chaotic scenes at the station when one man pulled his wife and child on to the tracks begging police not to force them to go to the camp “We won’t move from here,” he shouted repeatedly The man was later handcuffed and taken away by officers Hungarian police attempt to remove desperate family from railway lines WARNING: distressing images GuardianA large group of people was surrounded in a hot and cramped underpass leading out of the station Other passengers clashed with police and forced their way back on to the train to begin a standoff in the sweltering heat Police brought water but many of the migrants refused to take the bottles volunteers tried to offer them food but people refused to eat Just let us go to Germany,” one said from an open train window Hungarian police declared the area an “operation zone” and removed reporters from the station reporters were allowed to gather on a platform About 100 people were on the opposite platform and about 50 riot police blocked the route across the tracks The travellers on the train resorted to holding signs up against the train windows which said “no camp for children” and “save our souls Police told the rightwing HirTV channel that they were waiting for the press to leave before taking the migrants to the camp at Bicske. The refugees chanted “media, media, don’t leave!” and held anti-Hungarian government slogans against the train windows. One of them said: “It is better to die in Syria than in Hungary.” About 500 people remained on the train on Thursday night after just 30 agreed to go to the camp to be registered Euronews reported that a second train had stopped near the north-western town of Győr in Hungary and several dozen people had been escorted off by police Hungarian police stop a train with refugees in Bicske. Photograph: Björn Kietzmann/Demotix/CorbisTwo miles from the train in Bicske, a staff member at the refugee camp disclosed that they had been prepared for the manoeuvre, saying she had been told to get to work early in expectation of a sudden influx of migrants. Outside the camp gates, a young Hungarian mother of three children, from Tatabanya, said she had diverted her trip after hearing the news on the radio. “I had been planning to go to Keleti station to drop off some clothes,” she said, “but then I heard that the migrants were being taken here [and] decided to make a detour.” Conditions at the camp, where many refugees are sleeping in tents, are said to be among the worst in Hungary. “Why does Hungary keep us here when they don’t have the money to look after us,” asked a 30-year-old Iranian man. “Here we get 6,000 forints a week to live from, we never get an evening meal, and often we don’t have water. I have been here for five months, and I have never had any medical help for this,” he said, knocking on his prosthetic leg. In Budapest, police had hoped to entice many more of the estimated 3,000 people camping outside Keleti to leave on Thursday. Conditions at the terminal have become increasingly desperate despite the presence of volunteers distributing water, food, medicine and disinfectants. The Associated Press reported seeing a toddler beside his sleeping parents crawling on to the pavement to eat breadcrumbs. Nearby, an unattended child rummaged through a pile of rubbish. Hundreds of people took turns washing their hair, clothes and feet and brushing their teeth at a five-tap water supply (with no sewerage system) that was supposed to provide drinking water for the entire camp. The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, in Brussels for crisis talks, defended the heavyhanded tactics, adding that other politicians should not criticise Hungary for doing “what was compulsory” under EU regulations. But Hungarian citizens showed their disapproval of the way the refugees were treated. In Budapest, several people went to the station to help. “I am just really ashamed about the government, that they don’t help these people at all,” said Barbara Baranyai, 31, who had made a collection of baby clothes, shoes, fruit, biscuits and blankets in her neighbourhood and travelled about 20 miles to the station. “Due to the hate-generating speech of the Hungarian government, they have turned people against these refugees,” said Baranyai, who was distributing her goods with her own 15-month-old son strapped to her back. “I see other countries handling it much better. If I imagine I had to go with my child, crossing seas and walking, then staying like this, living at the station so long, the thought is unbearable.” She broke down in tears. Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Belépés Orbán tries to shift blame for sexual abuse at orphanage on opposition, hoping to avoid having to talk about presidential pardonEnglish the dominant narrative has been that the resignation of Katalin Novák and Judit Varga proves that those on the right take responsibility for their mistakes The government-friendly press and Megafon's influencers have been chanting this in unison for the past weeks Orbán's strategy has been to distance himself from the issue while shifting the blame onto Katalin Novák Not once has he mentioned Novák's name when speaking about the issue in public only referring to her as Madame President each time That is what he did both in his annual State of the Nation address on 17 February and in Parliament on Monday Monday's session of Parliament was the first time Orbán had to answer uncomfortable questions since the scandal broke This was the first time he could not get away with simply saying that granting a pardon to Endre K. who covered up the pedophile case in the Bicske children's home was a mistake The opposition of course seized the opportunity to use the clemency case to attack both the Prime Minister and the government who have been campaigning for years with slogans about the importance of protecting children while former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány called Orbán "Hungary's first paedophile-friendly prime minister" Several members of the opposition questioned the claim that Orbán being the country's all-powerful leader was not aware of Endre K.'s presidential pardon which is what Gergely Gulyás claimed at a government briefing which brought about the statement that the 'left have harboured paedophiles' The Prime Minister hit back at the opposition by claiming that János Vásárhelyi the director of the Bicske children's home was in fact their man: it was the opposition that had not launched an investigation against him and it was also the opposition's responsibility that he had not been imprisoned before “I would like to draw the attention of those who are now attacking the right or the governing coalition's factions regarding the pardon in the pedophile-case to a basic fact: we were the ones who put the pedophile offender in prison We had to put him in prison because you did not put him in prison you were the ones who kept the paedophile criminal head of the children's home in his position for 20 years or at least no investigation with consequences carried out against him during your time János Vásárhelyi became the head of the Bicske children's home after leaving his previous job over a similar matter but apparently no police report was filed at the time If one follows Orbán's logic, however, then he also holds responsibility for the Bicske case, since in 2002, prior to the municipal elections, he campaigned for the candidates of the local organisation in Bicske Összefogás a Városért Egyesület 2002 (Association for the City of Bicske) The association's list was led by János Vásárhelyi who won the election and was a municipal council member until 2010 Orbán's other major claim in parliament was that it was his government that launched police proceedings against János Vásárhelyi and that they didn't rest when the first proceedings failed "We opened the first police investigation against this man in 2011 and the currently ongoing investigation is going to reveal why it was not successful and we opened the investigation for a second time We put in prison the people you failed to lock up So you were the ones who appointed the director of the children's home who committed paedophile crimes you were the ones who left him there for 20 years and then we put him in prison after the change of government in 2010 That's what happened." In another speech it was a minister of the government who filed a complaint against the director of the children's home in Bicske in 2016.” it is difficult to understand what Orbán's means when he says that they were the ones who locked up János Vásárhelyi because the judiciary is in principle independent of the government It is easy to reconstruct when and how proceedings were initiated against Vásárhelyi using the articles that have been published since the clemency scandal broke Two employees of the Bicske institution reported the sexual abuse to the municipality (under whose auspices the institution functioned) It was this investigation that was closed in 2012 with the police claiming that it could not be established that a crime had been committed A year later, the ombudsman's report found that the police had committed several oversights during the investigation the report criticized the fact that the deputy of the accused director (who was later granted a presidential pardon) had been appointed the legal representative of the victims which could have significantly influenced their testimonies they waited quite a long time to start new proceedings since following the first unsuccessful investigation in 2011 János Vásárhelyi could continue to abuse the residents of the Bicske children's home for another five years who ended up being convicted of pedophile crimes received the István Bárczy Award from the capital in 2015 while Fidesz politician István Tarlós was the mayor the capital was already under the leadership of the governing party the capital's leadership decorated him in spite of being aware of the previous accusations against him It has also emerged that as the head of the capital's child protection authority was also aware of the accusations from 2011 Gergely Karácsony was mayor of Zugló at the time and he also voted in favour of awarding Vásárhelyi which he explained by saying that the assembly was not aware of the previous accusations Another potentially embarrassing detail for the governing parties is that it was a KDNP-member deputy mayor describing him as " an understanding person with a legendary patience and acceptance and whose leadership style is characterized by calmness a sufficient degree of assertiveness" Nor did Orbán mention that the director from Bicske also received a high-ranking state award during his premiership János Vásárhelyi was awarded the Hungarian Bronze Cross of Merit "in recognition of his exemplary dedication to the education of disadvantaged children and their preparation for independent life" The medal is officially awarded by the President following a proposal by the Prime Minister Dozens of people were awarded the medal alongside Vásárhelyi at that time but the decision was indeed signed by János Áder the award was not presented by the opposition but by one of Orbán's ministers: in this case the Minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office who did so due to the absence of Zoltán Balog Vásárhelyi was decorated at the time when according to Orbán they were about to again initiate police proceedings against him the victims reported Vásárhelyi's actions just a few weeks after he received the state award he was sentenced to 8 years in prison for the abuse committed between 2004 and 2016 Orbán's and Fidesz's goal with blaming the opposition is to avoid talking about the specific case that the government considers the case closed State Secretary Tamás Menczer told Telex in parliament that there is nothing to be investigated Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky perhaps put it more succinctly " All is now in order with the pardon case." For more quick, accurate and impartial news from and about Hungary, subscribe to the Telex English newsletter! the news of the flight of the Lockheed Sirius 8A Justice for Hungary plane operated by Hungarian navigator Sándor Magyar and pilot György Endresz a jamming compass and the engine of the aircraft breaking down in mid-air the two heroic Hungarians successfully flew over the Atlantic Ocean from the United States and reached Hungary breaking several world records during their journey However, Hungary suddenly finding itself at the centre of global attention was not only due to the feat of the two prominent aviators, whose unprecedented achievements in terms of flight distance covered and time involved broke at least two world records: 5770 kilometres without landing that were covered in 26 hours and 20 minutes they had reached the Irish shores faster than anyone before and successfully completed the first transatlantic flight whose destination was so deep in the continent.  There was another reason for the sudden interest in the small Central-European country Although the flight indeed exemplified the power of cooperation as well as sheer determination and unwavering will the main motivation behind this breath-taking enterprise was sincere patriotism and love for Hungary György Endresz and Sándor Magyar wanted to attract attention to the unjust Trianon Peace Treaty as well as create a reason for celebration among Hungarians across all borders—hence the name Justice for Hungary of the aircraft they flew Magyar was the one who conceived the grand plan of undertaking an ocean flight His journey as a pilot began in 1916 when he enlisted as a professional lieutenant during World War I he later transitioned to aerial observer in the summer of 1918 He continued to serve in the aerial force even after the war but eventually the repercussions of the Treaty of Trianon rendered aviation almost non-existent he left Hungary and sought a living overseas Since the United States had drastically reduced the quota of Eastern European immigrants Magyar’s passion for aviation persisted and finally he managed to get back on the plane Drawing inspiration from the notable flights over the Atlantic in particular the renowned solo journey of Lindbergh in 1927 that garnered widespread attention a similar groundbreaking achievement can help the Hungarian cause he could not initially raise sufficient funding for the enterprise that he conceived The American authorities did not exhibit a particularly favourable attitude towards Magyar’s ambitious plan either A letter he received from the US aeronautics authority of the time: ’…If you want to make propaganda for your country at all costs go to the top of the Empire State Building skyscraper I’m sure all the papers will write about the sensation It is no more unpleasant than drowning and is significantly cheaper…’ The latter sentence alluded to the apparent impossibility of another successful flight over the ocean as a significant number of aircrafts had crashed into the waters not long before the above correspondence took place while also working as a flight instructor at the Budaörs airport he served at the court of the Afghan king as the monarch’s personal pilot Endresz’ innate lust for adventure and his patriotic sentiment made him decide to take part in the enterprise With donations collected from all around the globe took off from North America’s easternmost point and embarked on a historic flight to Europe Sándor Magyar was so confident in the success of their journey that before taking off he sent a telegraph to his mother in Hungary which said: ‘See you tomorrow afternoon at [the] Mátyásföld [airfield]’ the attention to the Hungarian Americans’ undertaking was immense and crowds gathered near Mátyásföld long before the arrival of the plane not everything went as expected: it was a perilous journey that awaited the two men Weather conditions also proved to be unfavourable especially at the later stages of the flight and they had to waste the precious fuel to avoid being consumed by the dark and turbulent clouds the two heroes managed to find the way to Europe by following the trajectory of ships using the position of the Sun as a reference point and their maps The final challenge came when they had already flown into Hungarian territory the supply of fuel to the engine was interrupted They had to make a tough decision—although thousands had already gathered by that time near Mátyásföld Endresz and Magyar made an emergency landing near Bicske sadly not managing to cover the last tiny fragment of the journey The last 30-kilometres of the journey were made in a car and the pilots arrived to the airfield of Mátyásföld at 9:00 p.m The symbolic impact of the flight was immense The record-breaking aviators were greeted as national heroes during a grand public celebration held on 20 July 1931 at the Millennium Memorial in Heroes’ Square where they arrived amidst the jubilation of hundreds of thousands of people In addition to the enthusiastic public reception the pilots were warmly welcomed at the Buda Castle as well they had the honour of meeting with the country’s highest officials Other country-wide celebrations soon ensued and the international impact was also notable helyi 12 óra 20 perckor a Harlbor Grace repülőteréről felszállt a Justice for Hungary amely greenwichi idő szerint 6 óra 40 perckor Írországtól délre lépett európai légtérbe ezzel 13 óra 20 perc menetidővel felállították az óceánrepülés akkori időbeli rekordját In addition to acknowledging the efforts of the two pilots it is crucial to recognise the invaluable contributions made by the numerous individuals who provided financial support for the venture and without whom it would not have been possible Hungarians residing in Hungary and Hungary-sympathisers of foreign origin collectively donated approximately 5,000 dollars the chairman of the English Daily Mail newspaper group made a remarkable contribution by of 10,000 dollars it was at his suggestion that the aircraft be named Justice for Hungary But the most substantial contribution came from Hungarian industrialist Emil Szalay who had previously established himself in the United States Szalay’s exceptional generosity went beyond expectations as he donated over 25 thousand dollars towards the mission The audacious flight stands as a testament to the profound love that the Hungarian people hold for their country Despite changing governments and the passage of time the heroic deeds accomplished by its sons and daughters will continue to inspire future generations of Hungarians to undertake great endeavours the Justice for Hungary flight is unquestionably among the most awe-inspiring ones ever Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective Leaders in Austria and Germany have agreed to take in migrants from troubled Hungary who approach their border Werner Faymann said that the agreement had been reached after communication with Austrian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and German Chancellor Angela Merkel "due to today's plight at the Hungarian border." hundreds of frustrated migrants left Budapest on foot and began walking toward the Austrian and German borders their numbers stopping traffic on highways groups of migrants refused to be transported to a reception center The migrants were passengers on a train that was stopped at Bicske but said they preferred to go to Germany rather than a refugee camp They said they were tricked into getting on the train that they thought was headed for Western Europe The announcement from Faymann came after a day of increased tensions among refugees attempting to leave Hungary "Hundreds of refugees are currently on foot from Hungary to Austria," read a statement released by the Austrian interior ministry translated into English "Police and Red Cross are prepared for the arrival of refugees Every refugee in Austria can apply for asylum." "A solution of the current situation can only be ensured in the spirit of European solidarity." The migrants are among hundreds of thousands fleeing war Among them are Syrians running from Islamic State Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times A woman carrying a child stands outside a train with migrants that was stopped in Bicske Thousands of migrants flooded into a train station in the Hungarian capital Thursday after police lifted a two-day blockade but some who boarded a train they thought was going to Germany ended up instead at a refugee camp just miles from Budapest The Associated Press reports that "excited migrants piled into a newly arrived train at the Keleti station in Hungary's capital despite announcements in Hungarian and English that all services from the station to Western Europe had been canceled A statement on the main departures board said no more trains to Austria or Germany would depart 'due to safety reasons until further notice!' who couldn't understand either language and were receiving no advice from Hungarian officials scrambled aboard in a standing-room-only crush and hoped for the best," the AP said Scuffles broke out when police ordered the passengers off the train at Bicske, according to the BBC Meanwhile, Hungary's prime minister says his country is doing all it can to manage a growing migrant crisis even as European officials said they will meet this month in Brussels to discuss an effort to "strengthen the European response" to the situation Viktor Orban said the influx of refugees into his country is really "a German problem" because that is the intended destination for most of them because "they see that the European leaders "If we would create an image ... just come because we are ready to accept everybody, that would be a moral failure, because that is not the case," Orban said after a meeting with European Parliament President Martin Schulz, according to The Washington Post Why do you have to go from Turkey to Europe Hungarian police prepare to get migrants off train. They've refused police water and food.… http://t.co/8cEJtxR6IT pic.twitter.com/SYZ8dJSt2y The BBC reports: "His comments came as Hungarian authorities opened the main rail station in Budapest to hundreds of migrants after a two-day stand-off but then stopped near a migrant reception centre "Migrants mostly from Syria but also from Iraq Pakistan and Afghanistan resisted efforts by police to get them off the train at Bicske Some were banging on the windows and shouting 'Germany Meanwhile, Voice of America reports that British French and German officials have called for urgent action and plan to hold talks on Sept VOA reports: "The three ministers also called for better processing of migrants in Italy and Greece." Migrants charge their cellphones at Keleti Railway Station in Budapest the United Nations believes that more than 300,000 migrants have set out for Europe from North Africa and the Middle East on the Mediterranean Sea so far this year As NPR's Middle East editor Larry Kaplow writes: "On any given day now are drifting in ships or clinging to boats that are little more than inflatable rafts Jumping fences in Morocco to get to Spanish territory Become an NPR sponsor Belépés "This case already reeked in court" – lawyer speaks out about President Novák's pardon in paedophile caseEnglish Katalin Novák talks to children in Kékcse on 13 April 2023 – Photo: Zsolt Czeglédi / MTISarkadi ZsoltAndrea Horváth Kávai (translation)"If this can happen then the decade-long struggle of the victims and their legal defense has become utterly pointless," lawyer András Gál who represented the abused youngsters in the trial of the former director of the Bicske children's home It was revealed on Friday that on the pretext of the Pope's visit to Hungary last spring President Katalin Novák had granted a presidential pardon to the deputy director of the children's home who had used blackmail to force several residents of the home to withdraw their testimony against the paedophile director who had sexually abused them András Gál says that the Novák’s use of presidential pardons is difficult to understand. “She also pardoned György Budaházy, (far right extremist convicted of terrorism) who was sentenced to 17 years in prison in the first instance and I think that her pardoning of the deputy director who forced the victims of the severely paedophilic children's home director to change their testimonies is another huge step backwards Gál shared that he still occasionally speaks with the abused youngsters One of those affected by the case committed suicide the others "have become psychologically wrecked" and to this day they have not been able to escape the effects of what they had gone through As to why exactly Katalin Novák chose to pardon the deputy director but he says it appears that both in this case the state has been trying to go easy on defendants active in religious organisations and the defendants in the Bicske case are or have presented themselves as such we were unable to put together a panel that would overturn or degrade the previous verdict to the ridiculous level of the Budaházy verdict in the second instance and as of yet we don't get to pick the judge and the verdict because you are one of ours and we'll give you a pardon.” and paid 5,000 forints to the severely disadvantaged and sometimes mentally challenged underage boys entrusted to his care and supervision for having sex with the director I could have puked right there when the sentence was handed down." It was in 2016 through RTL's Házon Kívül programme that the public learned about the severely paedophilic criminal activities of the director of the Kossuth Zsuzsa Children's Home in Bicske which had gone on for a decade and continued for five years after the first reports were brought to the attention of the authorities in 2011 The programme featured face-to-face interviews with two victims who agreed to speak on camera after another victim had jumped in front of a train shortly before and director János Vásárhelyi first molested him when he was 13 He went into the principal's office and after a while the principal locked the door and while they were talking Vásárhelyi started touching himself and then went up to the boy and reached under his shirt The principal then put the 13-year-old's hand on his genitals The boys who came forward also said that they were not the only victims that it was an open secret in the institution that "Uncle János loves young boys" It emerged soon afterwards that there had been suspicions about the possibility of the director of the institution committing pedophilic crimes against the children in his care for more than four years before RTL's programme aired "Five years had passed from the time the first case was reported who presented himself as extremely religious and meek continued to sexually abuse children," András Gál said It was also revealed that shortly before the scandal broke, János Vásárhelyi had been awarded a state honour – even though he had been suspected of paedophilia five years earlier, but this had not been included in his file. The Hungarian Bronze Cross of Merit was awarded to him by János Lázár then Minister of the Prime Minister's Office who subsequently claimed that he was only filling in for Zoltán Balog it was also uncovered that the director had used blackmail and threats to get the children to retract the incriminating statements against him one of the children reported to his child protection guardian that the director had sexually abused him The guardian immediately had the child removed from the institution the director contacted the child's cousin who was also living in the children's home and persuaded him to "smuggle" the child back inside where the director (who was already suspended at the time) told him that if he wanted to continue living with his cousin (his next of kin) he would have to withdraw his incriminating statement The principal then summoned his deputy and asked him to write the testimony on the child's behalf and have him sign it even though he was fully aware of what the director had been accused of "I made it up that we had jerked each other off and that he had done this to other children as well The truth is that he didn't pull down my pants and didn't touch me or jerk me off I've been taking a lot of "whippits" lately and it didn't do me much good I wasn't thinking straight a lot of the time." He wanted to have the child sign this false statement in his own office in the presence of the paedophile director He was sentenced to three years and four months in prison for coercion in 2019 at first instance and again in 2021 at second instance the director was sentenced to eight years for having abused at least ten underage boys between 2004 and 2016 in the institution he ran and he first approached him when the child told him that his mother had died "Taking advantage of his grief and distress but committed a sexual act instead," the prosecutor read out the indictment at the trial “This man used threats and blackmail to persuade the victims to withdraw their testimonies or not to give incriminating statements against the director In response to our questions Katalin Novák's office said that “under Katalin Novák's presidency They also added that they are not able to provide any information on specific cases of clemency while there's no pardon for paedophiles there is for those who exculpate and cover up crimes of paedophilia Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. 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Read our Privacy notice As Hungarian officials continue to stop refugees from boarding international trains from the capital hundreds of people have taken matters into their own hands and embarked on the 135km (85mile) walk to Austria A nearly half-mile long line of people streamed from the Keleti rail station in Budapest onto a main road on Friday while a separate group in Bicske overwhelmed police officers to flee from a train near a migrant reception centre Images from the scene showed the desperate refugees clutching their belongings as they started the gruelling walk to Austria from where many are expected to head to Germany while others appeared determined to cross the border despite being in wheelchairs or on crutches The mass-exodus was in response to attempts by the Hungarian authorities to prevent thousands of people from boarding international trains as refugees – many from war-torn Syria – sought refuge in western Europe Hungary has been a land entry point to the EU for tens of thousands of refugees The situation in Hungary has gradually escalated since the beginning of the week when officials started blocking refugees from boarding international trains from Keleti and people were forced to camp outside the station Ticket-holders were allowed to board trains which they believed were heading to Austria and Germany on Thursday but were stopped at the Biscke - the location of a camp for asylum seekers police ordered passengers to register their applications before they could legally travel on to other Schengen-area countries The government has argued that its crackdown is part of its attempt to implement the Dublin Regulation, which states that asylum seekers must be registered in the first country they enter. But many are keen to avoid remaining in Hungary, which is economically depressed and is more likely to return refugees to their countries of origin. “The government of Hungary is very bad,” said Morzar, who studied pharmacology at Aleppo's university. “The United Nations should help.” The country’s parliament has responded to this week's turmoil by tightening its immigration rules, approving the creation of transit zones on the Hungarian border with Serbia where refugees would be kept until their asylum requests were decided within eight days. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Belépés Katalin Novák: All clemency decisions are inherently divisiveEnglish I consider it one of the most disgusting and serious crimes There has been no pardon for paedophiles under my presidency and that was the case in this instance as well I was one of the most vocal advocates of strict action against paedophiles and the introduction of a paedophile register," Hungarian President Katalin Novák said at a press conference held on the occasion of the Armenian President's visit to Budapest on Tuesday She did not give a substantive answer to ATV's question as to why, on the pretext of last year's papal visit, she pardoned the former deputy director of the Bicske children's home who used blackmail to force several residents of the home to withdraw their testimony against the pedophile director who had abused them The President said that there is a legal provision according to which the reasons for presidential pardon decisions are not public " It is therefore natural that every decision on clemency raises questions and as has been the case for the past 33 years and as is the case in most countries of the world What we have witnessed in recent days is a political campaign that has contained many untrue allegations All clemency decisions are inherently divisive and when I make decisions about the hundreds of clemency applications that are put before me I try to do so with the utmost care." who stressed that she had given birth to and is raising three children and that she has always stood by Hungarian families "I have compassion for all victims of paedophilia and if anyone – whether from the government or the opposition – really wants to take a meaningful stand against paedophilia and the perpetrators of paedophile crimes I am ready to work with them now and will do so in the future" she added was the director of a children's home in Bicske for 26 years and between 2004 and 2016 he regularly sexually abused at least ten underage boys in the care of the institution Several of his former victims testified publicly about this in 2016 to perform oral sex in exchange for various favours one of the children notified his guardian about the director sexually abusing him The guardian immediately had the child removed from the institution and reported the incident after which the director was immediately relieved of his duties The director then contacted the child's cousin and persuaded him to "smuggle" the child back into the home where the suspended director told him that if he wanted to continue living with his cousin (who was his next of kin) The director called in his deputy and asked him to write a statement on the child's behalf and have him sign it even though he was fully aware of what the principal had been accused of He had the child concerned sign this false statement in his own office He was sentenced to 3 years and 4 months in prison for coercion in 2019 in the first instance and in 2021 in the second instance The fact of the pardon might not have come to light if the deputy director had not tried to challenge his prison sentence in the third degree in parallel with his application for pardon The proceedings before the Curia were still ongoing when the pardon was granted so the decision from last April was included in the third instance ruling in September: KEH/2787-6/2023 on the application for pardon submitted by the secondary co-defendant has suspended the execution of the remainder of the sentence of imprisonment imposed in the present case for a probationary period of 5 years she has remitted the execution of the remainder of the sentence of prohibition from employment and the ancillary sentence of prohibition from performing public duties and has exempted the defendant from the disadvantages of a criminal record in relation to the sentence.” Despite the presidential pardon being granted in the meantime the Curia upheld both the first and second instance sentences the deputy director will not have to serve it and will not have a criminal record either the opposition has been talking about Fidesz' paedophile lobby and is demanding Novák's resignation It has been reported in the press that Endre K. who was originally sentenced to three years and four months in prison for coercion This was also suggested by Momentum MP Márton Tompos in his Facebook post on Saturday suggesting that this may be why the deputy director was pardoned the leader of MSZP's parliamentary group has already called for former Justice Minister Judit Varga's resignation from Fidesz’ EP list in the upcoming European Parliamentary elections the request was submitted by Varga while she was still minister and for the decision to be valid “SPAR Hungary is the only domestic retail chain to operate its own meat plants was expanded with a plant in Perbál in 2020 and in 2018 we established a plant producing convenience products in Üllő These three strategic plants contribute greatly to providing the store network with high-quality in-house-produced products made from raw materials that largely come from domestic suppliers We have so far spent around HUF 20 billion on the development of the plants of which HUF 1.9 billion was allocated for various technological equipment and investments in 2024 we will allocate a further HUF 1.9 billion to achieve our development goals in Bicske The focus of our developments this year is on the purchase of energy-saving equipment and new machines that increase production capacity,” SPAR Slovenia encourages eco-friendly practices as part of its sustainability… hiding costs or “trickling” them – dark patterns… A record number of corporate mergers took place in Hungary… As May marks the last month of spring and the… Hivatalos Matesz audit adatok Trade Magazin Retail chain ranking 2023 Retail chain ranking 2022 Retail chain ranking 2021 Telefon: +36 30 826 4158 © 2023 GRABOWSKI Kiadó Kft | Minden jog fenntartva migrants were shocked to find out that their train was not heading to Austria but to a Hungarian migrant camp Scores of police in riot gear were there to greet them The migrants started chanting "No camp!" in Arabic One family sat down beside the tracks and appealed to journalists for help the husband in apparent desperation threw his wife and infant on to the tracks Police in helmets and body armour surrounded the prone family and detained the man The woman and infant were escorted off the tracks Other migrants scuffled with police and forced their way back onto the train where hours-long standoff in the sweltering sun began Just let us go to Germany," one migrant said from an open train window Greece said it does not see an end to the flood of refugees and migrants anytime soon Alternate Interior Minister Antonis Makrydimitris said yesterday that in July 2014 He said "that's a 3,000 per cent increase" He said this flow of migrants is expected to continue in September and October "until conditions change" He said the vast majority of migrants were reaching five eastern Greek islands with Lesbos seeing 50 per cent of arrivals news that that Canada rejected the application of a Syrian family whose mother and two young sons drowned this week trying to get to Europe had an immediate impact on the Canadian election campaign Opposition Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government has ignored the pleas to accept more refugees and said news that Canada's immigration minister is looking into the case comes too little too late "You don't get to suddenly discover compassion in the middle of an election campaign Trudeau called on Canada to immedi-ately accept 25,000 Syrian refugees Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Western nations of indifference to the plight of refugees saying they shared the blame for the deaths of migrants off the coast of Turkey He said Turkey was hosting close to two million refugees in contrast to about 200,000 in total being hosted by "many times more" prosperous Western countries German Chancellor Angela Merkel has renewed her call for binding quotas to spread out tens of thousands of migrants among the European Union's 28 countries Merkel said she discussed the issue with French President FranÁois Hollande yesterday morning She said they agree that "for those who need protection .. we need binding quotas within the European Union to share the task." She stressed that a country's size and economic strength will be taken into account "but otherwise we will not cope with this question" Germany has taken in more migrants than any other European Union country View the discussion thread. Migrants protest at the railway station in the town of Bicske Link copiedShareShare articleBritain says it will "act with its heart" and take thousands more Syrian asylum seekers as the United Nations called on the European Union to admit up to 200,000 refugees as part of a "mass relocation program" that would be binding on EU states British prime minister David Cameron said on Friday the UK had already accepted around 5,000 Syrians under its existing resettlement schemes but would continue to take in more asylum seekers "Given the scale of the crisis and the suffering of people I can announce that we will do more in providing resettlement for thousands more Syrian refugees," Mr Cameron told reporters in Lisbon Britain's government has faced calls to take in many more refugees after broad media coverage of the image of a dead Syrian toddler washed up on a Turkish beach Warning: This story contains an image that may distress some readers "People who are found to have a valid protection claim .. must then benefit from a mass relocation program with the mandatory participation of all EU member states," Mr Guterres said in a statement "A very preliminary estimate would indicate a potential need to increase relocation opportunities to as many as 200,000 places." the EU has borne relatively little of the refugee burden of the Syrian war which has created 4 million refugees in countries neighbouring Syria and displaced a further 7.6 million within the country "This is a defining moment for the European Union and it now has no other choice but to mobilise full force around this crisis," Mr Guterres said "The only way to solve this problem is for the Union and all member states to implement a common strategy Referring to the pictures of the dead child which "had stirred the hearts of the world public" Mr Guterres said: "Europe cannot go on responding to this crisis with a piecemeal or incremental approach." and no country can refuse to do its part," he said Mr Guterres's appeal tallied with a call by France and Germany for binding EU quotas to share the burden of the influx of migrants and refugees Italy and transit countries in south-eastern and central Europe the hardest EU officials confirmed European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker would next week unveil a plan for the relocation of at least 120,000 more refugees returned to his hometown of Kobane on Friday where he buried his wife who all died as the family tried to get to Europe Mr Kurdi wept as their bodies were buried alongside each other in the Martyrs' Ceremony in the predominantly Kurdish town Mr Kurdi said he hoped the death of his family would encourage Arab states to help Syrian refugees "I want from Arab governments — not European countries — to see [what happened to] my children and because of them to help people," he said in footage posted online by a local radio station Migrants are camped in an underground station in front of the Keleti railway station in Budapest Hungary's right-wing prime minister Viktor Orban said on Friday warned Europeans risk becoming a minority on their own continent He defended his country's hardline stand on asylum seekers as hundreds protested around a train stationed in the town of Bicske "The reality is that Europe is threatened by a mass inflow of people many tens of millions of people could come to Europe," Mr Orban told public radio in a regular interview Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban says Europeans risk becoming a minority on their own continent "Now we talk about hundreds of thousands but next year we will talk about millions and there is no end to this "All of a sudden we will see that we are in minority in our own continent." protesters wrote on the side of the train: "No camp The migrants had wrestled with police on Thursday some throwing themselves on the tracks insisting they be allowed to remain on the train bound for a border town near Austria The train had left Budapest on Thursday morning after a two-day standoff at the city's main railway station as police barred entry to some 2,000 migrants fearing they will be sent back to Hungary if caught later in western and northern Europe the most popular destination among the migrants for saying it would accept asylum requests from Syria regardless of where they entered the EU Parliament in Budapest is expected to endorse a raft of measures to effectively seal Hungary's southern border with Serbia to asylum seekers It wants to create holding zones on the frontier where migrants will be held while their papers are processed and potentially sent back into Serbia World leaders including British prime minster David Cameron voice their distress over the images of a toddler's body washed up on a Turkish beach "Hungary cannot ignore Schengen rules in its procedures," Mr Orban said referring to Europe's zone of passport-free travel "Migrants must cooperate with Hungarian authorities with the German authorities and if Germany wants to admit Syrians it should issue permission for them to go into Germany." Mr Orban said the new measures being debated by parliament would be implemented from September 15 "Everyone should be prepared for this: Serbia and a different era will start from September 15," he said Poland's foreign minister Grzegorz Schetyna said the EU had to tackle the reasons for the arrival of migrants "The scale of the migration is enormous so we can't focus — I'm talking about the whole of Europe — on allocating illegal migrants without fighting the causes [of their arrival]," Mr Schetyna told private Radio Zet "We have to think of how to stop the illegal migration Otherwise [we may] soon have 3-4 million economic refugees." Bulgaria detained 39 Syrians in a forest near the western town of Pernik after they were apparently abandoned on a motorway as they tried to make it from Bulgaria into neighbouring Serbia "They do not have documents," Pernik governor Irena Sokolova said "These are people who have passed the primary interviews and procedures required for granting them refugee status "They are currently at the police station where fingerprints will be taken in order to identify them." Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia was considering whether to would increase the number of Syrian refugees it would accept. Ms Bishop's comment came after a stinging criticism in a New York Time editorial of Australia's "unconscionable" border protection methods. CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) Our reporter was denied access to public records when she was looking for property data in an area where the Hungarian prime minister’s family also owns lands I asked to speak with the head of the local land registry She argued that I requested so many documents during the past few weeks that it counts as a so called “bulk data request.” When I asked what the limit of propriety documents is that could be checked at once she answered that the law on informational self-determination and freedom of information protects all personal data She then suggested to consult with the head of the district office and asked me to wait on the corridor [vimeo id=”158802467″ align=”center”] The head of the district office and the head of the land registry spoke for about 40 minutes before they called for me While I was waiting for them I had the chance to read again the information sheet displayed on the office’s door “Property records can be viewed and copied without limitation by anyone,” says the sheet hanging on the door of the office I was sent out from because I wanted to look at too many property records from Felcsút the land registry has to log who and when viewed which property records This is the only prerequisite for checking property records Like everyone who requests property documents and filled in a form with my name and other personal data and the parcel numbers I was interested in I even disclosed that I wanted to check these parcel numbers as a journalist of Direkt36 Property records reveal a lot about the real estate in question: its size in cases of lands the property records specify if it is a forest or plough land) No one can just go to a land registry office and ask if a certain person owns any real estate For such an inquiry the parcel number or the property’s address is necessary if someone has this latter information the land registry has to provide access to property records on a computer In bigger land registries – like the two in Budapest – it is possible to check any amount of property records without the help of the clerks As far as we know the Bicske land registry had the same system before but now every property record has to be asked from the clerks and they don’t even show it to the inquirer If someone registers with the Hungarian state’s online administration system property records can be viewed online for 1000 forints (around 3 euro) There are hundreds of properties around Felcsút so finding what we want online would cost hundreds of thousand of forints (thousand of euros) I decided to go after the data and travelled to Bicske where I had to queue for hours to talk to the lone clerk sitting in the office If there were people in the queue after me I only asked 25-30 property records at once and then stood in the queue once again and the head of the land registry told me that my requests count as a “bulk information request” and therefore I have to file a separate data request specify the purpose of data collection and cite the law that allows such data collection When I asked which law regulates this process they referred to the freedom of information law and emphasized that the owners concerned in my requests have to agree to provide data about them if an owner doesn’t want to be disclosed the land registry won’t tell me his name Szabó’s opinion contradicts all the provisions on property registration and property records Therefore I asked them to specify the paragraphs they are citing Szabó sent me two paragraphs of the law regulating property registration which said that the land registry has to provide access to property records They once again referred to the freedom of information act but the cited paragraph was about different types of data I told Szabó that I was going to write an article about what happened and asked him to comment He said he needed to ask for permission before commenting so I sent my written question to the Bicske District Office Friday early afternoon I asked for the reason why they refused to give me access to the data and whether this decision has anything to do with the prime minister’s and his family’s estate in Felcsút We wanted to look into public property data in the home town of the Hungarian prime minister but since the beginning of April the authorities refuse to give out data The land registry claims to protect the privacy of the estate owners from us The land registry of Bicske issued a written decision denying Direkt36 access to public property data This particular land registry handles the data on real estate around Felcsút the rural town where the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán and his family owns a house and other properties We were frequent visitors at the Bicske land registry in March In several installments we asked in total for data on 175 estates around Bicske The officials were helpful at the beginning and handed over the data anybody can have access to them freely at the local land registry The database is also available online but not for free: the fee is 3 euros per real estate In the database there are information on the size and qualities of the property On April 1st we waited in the queue at the land registry just as we did in the past weeks but when we finally got to give our newest data request to the official she told us that unfortunately she can’t give us any more data The head of the land registry and the head of the district office said we already asked for so much data that it counts as a “bulk data request” They also cited the law on on informational self-determination and freedom of information and said that our request violated the property owner’s right to privacy A few days later the land registry stated in an official letter that they did not refuse our “bulk data request” only asked us to specify parcel numbers of the estates we wanted to look into They claimed that our journalist did not ask for specific parcel numbers this not true: like on every other day when she went to the land registry she used their own official data request form on which it is mandatory to fill in the parcel numbers we visited the Bicske land registry once again and we filed the data request form with the parcel numbers once again They refused to give the data and told us to send a special written request form We complied with the instructions and filed a list with every parcel number we want to look into In an accompanying letter we justified our data request with the fact that property data are public in Hungary This request was dismissed by the Bicske registry in an official decision we received on Monday The decision says we abused the principle of the publicity of property data as they interpret it the law only allows individual but not bulk requests “The land registry is obliged to prevent the mass acquisition of personal data,” they wrote Of course we didn’t want to misuse property or personal data the land registry itself was not really worried about this issue while we already looked into data on 175 estates in March Direkt36 is going to appeal the decision because we requested access to that data to gather information on issues in the public interest A stand-off is continuing in Hungary after riot police ordered a large number of migrants off a train that had left the capital Budapest Hungary has been taking asylum-seekers who were on a train they believed was headed to Western Europe to a transit camp about 40km outside Budapest The city's eastern railway station was opened yesterday to hundreds of refugees who had been camped outside it in the hope of catching a train to Germany and Austria did not head for Western Europe but was stopped at the town of Bicske Riot police ordered the passengers off the train Scuffles broke out and police ordered journalists from the scene Some of the asylum seekers refused to disembark while others clung to railway tracks or fled The authorities managed to put many people on buses to take them to an asylum seeker reception centre within Hungary Those who refused to disembark banged on the windows of the train and shouted "No camp his wife and their toddler - made their way onto the track next to the train and lay down in protest It took a dozen riot police wrestling with the man to get them up again With Hungary's government promising to close the country off to migrants by mid-September the standoff has become symbolic of a European asylum system brought to breaking point told European officials in Brussels that he would take a hard line from 15 September to require all refugees to register in his country before they can be considered for travel to the West He said Hungarians fear that European leaders cannot control the migrant flows Two thousand migrants are still stranded in Budapest's international train station because trains are not being allowed to cross the border Mr Orban said the situation was a "German problem" as Germany was where those arriving in the EU "would like to go" Germany is willing to bend European Union rules and take Syrian refugees without visas So if the German chancellor insists that nobody can leave Hungary without registration towards Germany "It's not a way to come through the green border shouting the name of Germany and Chancellor Merkel and forcing the Hungarian police to let them go out of the country without registration." Speaking at the same conference as Mr Orban the European Council President Donald Tusk said at least 100,000 refugees should be distributed across EU states He said EU countries should sharply increase their offers to share out asylum seekers and they should also set up refugee reception centres close to war zones outside Europe Mr Tusk said EU leaders should be ready at a summit next month to commit much more money to the crisis In what could be the biggest change to the Europe's asylum rules since World War II the leaders of France and Germany have proposed binding quotas of refugees for EU states German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said the quota system should be permanent and mandatory Ms Merkel said the bloc must adhere to the basic principle that "those who need protection get it" "We have a duty to defend the rights of those in need The Geneva Convention on Refugees is binding - not just on Germany but on all member states of the European Union." Mr Hollande said European solidarity must prevail as the incoming numbers are shared fairly among member states The bloc failed to reach such a deal in June EU foreign ministers are set to meet in Luxembourg to discuss the escalating crisis European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will next week unveil a plan to relocate at least 120,000 more refugees to ease the burden on Greece the Turkish authorities have arrested suspected traffickers in relation to the deaths of 12 Syrian refugees in two boat sinkings this week including a three-year-old boy whose body was photographed washed up on a resort beach The image of three-year-old Aylan on the beach at Bodrum spread rapidly on social media and has become a symbol of the refugee crisis all Syrian nationals aged between 30 and 41 are accused of causing deaths and trafficking migrants The boy's father of has spoken of his desolation Abdullah Kurdi lost both his sons and his wife when their boat overturned in high waves while heading to the Greek island of Kos The Kurdi family was trying to reach Canada to reunite with Abdullah's sister Teema but their asylum applications had been denied The Canadian immigration minister said he would investigate the reason for the refusal EU countries have so far committed to share about 32,000 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece a number short of a European Commission proposal of 40,000 A new proposal from the EU executive is expected next week The main railway station in the Hungarian capital has opened its doors to hundreds of migrants after a two-day stand-off OPINION: Millions of people worldwide have been displaced from their homes Toby Manhire and Toby Morris examine what it means Hundreds of migrants have protested outside Budapest's main railway station after Hungarian authorities closed it to prevent them travelling on to Germany Thousands of people have taken to the streets of the Austrian capital to demonstrate against the ill-treatment of refugees With the migrant crisis deepening in Europe open hostility has erupted over the numbers of people accepted by different countries The United Nations has said "much more is required" to prevent the deaths of migrants fleeing to Europe after hundreds were reported dead in recent days World RSS Follow RNZ News Image:Migrants protest from inside a train at the railway station in the town of Bicske Turkey (Reuters) – Migrants forced from a train in Hungary scuffled with helmeted riot police and some clung to railway tracks on Thursday as politicians across Europe struggled to respond to public opinion appalled by images of a drowned 3-year-old boy France and Germany said European countries must be required to accept their shares of refugees proposing what would potentially be the biggest change to the continent’s asylum rules since World War Two Europe’s worst refugee crisis since the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s has strained the European Union’s asylum system to breaking point dividing its 28 nations and feeding the rise of right-wing populists Hundreds of thousands of refugees from wars in the Middle East along with economic migrants fleeing poverty in Africa and Asia have braved the Mediterranean Sea and land routes across the Balkans to reach the European Union Thousands have died at sea and scores have perished on land Nearly all first reach the EU’s southern and eastern edges before pressing on for richer and more generous countries further north and west which has emphasised its moral duty to accept those fleeing genuine peril Accusing some European countries of failing to “assume their moral burdens” French President Francois Hollande said he had agreed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on “a permanent and obligatory mechanism” to allocate refugees across the bloc “I believe that today what exists is no longer enough,” he said “So we will need to go further.” Merkel said Germany was prepared to accept more refugees per capita than its neighbours but others must do their part with “quotas and rules that are fair and take into account what is possible in each country” She also acknowledged that laws requiring refugees to apply for asylum in the first EU country where they arrive were “not working any more” Germany has caused confusion among its neighbours by announcing it will accept applications from Syrians regardless of where they enter the EU Politicians across the continent acknowledged the impact on Thursday of images of a 3-year-old boy in a red T-shirt and tiny sneakers face down in the surf of a Turkish beach which gave a haunting human face to the tragedy of thousands dead at sea Urgent action required – A Europe-wide mobilisation is urgent,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Twitter The boy’s 5-year-old brother Galip and 35-year-old mother Rehan were also among 12 people who died when two boats carrying 23 capsized while trying to reach a Greek island “LET THIS BE THE LAST” His father Abdullah Kurdi collapsed in tears after emerging from a morgue where the bodies were held “The things that happened to us here in the country where we took refuge to escape war in our homeland we want the whole world to see this,” Abdullah told reporters “We want the world’s attention on us so that they can prevent the same from happening to others Hungary has emerged as the primary entry point for those reaching the EU overland across the Balkans and its right-wing government has become one of the most vocal on the continent opposing large-scale immigration Thursday brought a days-long stand-off to a pitch as Hungarian authorities who refused to let migrants board trains for Germany for days finally allowed hundreds onto a train bound for the Austrian frontier – only to halt it at Bicske a town outside Budapest with an immigration registration centre Hundreds of exhausted people had crammed aboard clinging to doors and squeezing their children through open carriage windows while five more stood at the station in the heat some migrants banged on windows chanting “No camp One group pushed back dozens of riot police guarding a stairwell to fight their way back on board his wife and their toddler – made their way along the track next to the train and lay down in protest “We need water,” said a Syrian man still on the train who gave his name as Midu “Respect the humans in here; no respect for the humans OPPOSING POSITIONS Hollande’s announcement of an agreement with Merkel on a mandatory system to allocate refugees would transform the asylum rules for the 28-member EU which operates common frontiers but requires countries to process refugees separately The major EU states have taken sharply opposing positions on how far to open their doors symbolised most prominently by Germany and Britain plans to receive 800,000 refugees this year and has budgeted billions in additional welfare spending for them “As one of the world’s richest countries a viable welfare state and a solid budget surplus we are in a position to rise to the occasion,” German Labour and Social Affairs Minister Andrea Nahles said at a briefing ahead of a G20 meeting in Turkey on Thursday has set up a programme to allow in vulnerable Syrians that has admitted just 216 It has also granted asylum to around 5,000 Syrians who managed to reach British shores since the war began four years ago but Prime Minister David Cameron has opposed mandatory EU refugee quotas “There isn’t a solution to this problem that’s simply about taking people,” he said in televised comments on Thursday His hardline stance has come under fire even from within his own Conservative Party: “We cannot be the generation that fails this test of humanity We must do all we can,” tweeted Conservative member of parliament Nicola Blackwood Other EU states are also likely to strongly resist a system that would require them to take in large numbers of refugees whose country is also a popular destination for the refugees backed the quota system idea and called for a greater sense of urgency over the crisis “It’s unfathomable that during the financial crisis it was possible to meet all the time and find a common solution and with this refugee crisis nothing is happening for weeks or months,” Sebastian Kurz told Reuters Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban described the crisis as a problem for Germany – which had offered to admit the refugees – not for Europe as a whole Europeans were “full of fear because they see that the European leaders … are not able to control the situation,” he added Lawmakers in Budapest were debating raft of amendments to Hungary’s migration laws that the ruling party said would cut illegal border crossings to “zero” They provide for holding zones on the country’s southern border with Serbia where construction crews are completing a 3.5-metre-high fence In an opinion piece for Germany’s Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung Orban wrote that his country was being “overrun” with refugees while “Europe and European culture have Christian roots” (This story corrects the spelling of the child’s name in the 11th paragraph to `Aylan’.) (Additional reporting by Krisztina Than and Sandor Peto; Writing by Matt Robinson and Peter Graff; Editing by Gareth Jones) You must be logged in to post a comment September 3 (MTI) – A train full of migrants left Budapest’s Keleti railway station but only travelled until the town of Bicske where migrants were taken off the train by police Police then placed groups of migrants on buses bound for the local reception centre Interpreters are at the scene telling the migrants that they cannot travel onwards without valid documentation The migrants are shouting “No camp!” and are refusing to come out of the underpass connecting the platforms with the train station September 3 (MTI) – Migrants who boarded a train at Budapest’s Keleti railway station on Thursday morning and told by police to get off in the town of Bicske near a refugee camp Police first placed groups of migrants on buses bound for the local reception centre in Bicske staying instead in an underpass connecting the platforms with the station Police told the migrants through interpreters that they cannot travel onwards without valid documentation but many of them are now boarding the train again There were about 100 migrants on the train though some women and children also had boarded The migrants shouted “No camp!” and re-boarded the train amid a stand-off with police officers Several other trains stopped at Bicske station; disembarking passengers were escorted by police to the station building Kuwait or any other muslim countries to practice there own religion The migrants have a great proportion of able bodied men Many of them openly admit that they are avoiding being drafted into the army of their country in the Middle East It is well known that the Iraqis ran away and gave up their arms to the ISIS and so they gave away their country Now they would want to be resettled in Europe under disguise as Syrians It can be further the case that the real Syrians do not want fight in Assad’s army It is the general opinion that to defeat the ISIS a ground force is needed Instead of running away and imposing themselves on Europe these young man ought to fight for freedom in their own country If they ran away there would be no Hungary armed and made to go back to fight to liberate their country The ground force should not be cowering in Europe Why can’t they make Assad come to the table to work out some kind of agreement It cannot be that these factions in the Middle East fight each other while they inundate their population to burden other Nations Hungary is already overburdened by unwelcome foreigners They are not legitimate refugees but opportunity seekers and website in this browser for the next time I comment Y"},"category":false,"taxonomy":{"active":false,"name":"category"}},"markup":{"custom_html":true,"wpp-start":"","wpp-end":"<\/ul>","title-start":"","title-end":"<\/h2>","post-html":"{thumb} {title} {stats}<\/span>{excerpt}<\/p><\/li>"},"theme":{"name":""}} You have successfully joined our subscriber list SupportUs Newsletter © 2025 DailyNewsHungary | All rights reserved Úgy tűnik nem található semmi ezen a helyen IMPRESSZUM SZERZŐI JOGOK ADATVÉDELEM FELHASZNÁLÁSI FELTÉTELEK The M1 motorway will be widened to six lanes between the capital and Győr (Western Hungary) Construction and Transportation Minister János Lázár said in Esztergom (Northern Hungary) on Thursday Lázár said the HUF 800 billion (EUR 2 billion) project would be the biggest motorway construction in a century 24-km-long stretch to be widened will run between Budapest and Bicske would be built at an estimated cost of HUF 500 billion (EUR 1.2 billion) Separate tenders for three sections of the dual carriageway will be called and construction could start on two in the spring of 2026 A preliminary study on the construction of a road and railway bridge over the Danube Lázár said that the length of dual carriageways in Hungary would reach 2,000 km by 2026 He said plans for a HUF 20 billion extension of Esztergom’s flood defences would be completed by the autumn He said an initiative by Esztergom’s mayor to build a new hospital for the region’s 130,000 residents deserved support More expensive motorways and ”intelligent emergency lane systems” which ambulances can conveniently use to transport patients to overcrowded and crumbling public hospitals that lack proper space equipment and professional staff due to lack of funding Motorways are more important than public healthare for the Hungarian government This is one of the only ‘genuinely needed’ road development projects in Hungary due to high levels of traffic demand The existing two lane motorway is full to bursting It’s not like people don’t pay handsomely for the privilege of driving on it the road tolls in Hungary are higher than Austria Most of the motorways and expressways are economic white elephants whose cost of maintenance is higher than the income generated by the road tolls but of course there were and remain a ton of backhanders to be made from their construction Long read – in case people are interested https://buildingconnections.eu/en/utepites/2024/10/29/tortenelmi-fejlesztes-indul-a-munka-az-m1-esen-interju/ @Londonsteve – share your curiosity regarding the identity of the worthy companies and individuals realizing this monster of a project I don’t think you need to dig very far to discover who benefits The toll road concession was given to a consortium formed of Meszaros and Szijj for the next 35 years They receive an annual fee for operating the relevant roads and their companies will arrange for the construction of new roads and the maintenance of existing ones the Hungarian government retains the toll revenue There is no correlation between the toll revenue and the degree of income for Meszaros and Szijj if they do a crappy job and neglect the roads to save money thus discouraging motorists from using the network It’s hard to avoid toll roads in Hungary without increasing journey times disproportionately particularly so in the case of transit traffic so no matter how poor the roads are or may become most road users are guaranteed to pay the tolls I for one don’t and prefer to add an hour to my journey time using road no.1 en route to Vienna I find it hard to justify the cost to save 1 hour from Budapest and I have a more relaxed altogether more enjoyable journey without being strafed by flashing headlights every 60 seconds on the M1 by people in a hurry to meet their maker I suspect that tolerance of excessively high speeds by the police is part of the overall plan to encourage as many road users as possible to pay the tolls who aided a notorious paedophile at the Bicske children’s home in sexually abusing children has ignited widespread public outrage and stirred the collective conscience of the nation The highly controversial case is expected to cast a shadow over Novák’s international reputation and erode public trust in her leadership While she has exhibited unwavering loyalty to party directives in the past The nation grapples with the hypocrisy of the situation particularly alarming given the government’s heavy advocacy for maximal child protection in recent years Novák pointed out legal provisions safeguarding the confidentiality of presidential pardon explanations The political scene is in flurry of outrage Anna Donáth has reacted to the President’s actions saying that there are pardons that prove to divide the public opinion She asserted that releasing the individual in question back into society violates all moral codes irrespective of political alignment Donáth expressed confidence that even the most loyal government supporters would reject such a decision if fully informed the Jobbik party called for Novák’s resignation as reparation for her reprehensible act accountable for her endorsement of the case advocating for her removal as Hungary’s lead candidate in the European Parliament elections this procedure is however slow and has many uncertain elements with the initial step being the collection of parliamentary signatures along with civil servants and the Teachers Union issued a statement condemning the pardon of Endre K Their stance mirrors that of the Democratic Coalition calling for greater transparency in presidential decisions They expressed grave concerns over Endre K.’s potential reinstatement in child protection roles and stressed the paramount importance of maintaining professional integrity and ethics in safeguarding children Highlighting the chronic underfunding and societal undervaluation of child protection services they underscored the urgent need for reform PM Orbán reacts, President Novák insists on shocking pardon – details HERE This reminds me the Case opened again TikTok in USA The silly politicians there said that they want to protect their children from tiktok(mainly because it is a Chinese app) but on the other hand they had the Epstein case with the elite of the country doing disgusting things in the island Do a favor the country and vote for other party These pardons to paedophile enablers and terrorists are part of the stench of corruption in the Fidesz government The people who are pardoned will be politically connected to the Fidesz government or people close to them are politically connected Novak please give us another speech about “family values” and Christianity That was a great excuse about not being able to disclose why he was pardoned due to “legal reasons.” Fortunately the judge who jailed him fully disclosed his “legal reasons” for putting him in prison in the first place Coupled with Orban and his party betraying democracy the EU and Ukraine by brown nosing Putin the good name of Hungary is being dragged in the mud Hungarians should note that the ordinary [erson in the street in many countries sees Hungary in the above terms and have np time for Orban and his cronies The Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) has been struggling recently with delays breaking railway tracks and other problems MÁV will introduce a new operation scheme in several suburban lines around Budapest The changes concern the line carrying passengers to and from Budapest Airport and Győr (Vienna) According to mav.hu ticket inspectors will disappear from several MÁV lines connecting Budapest with its suburbs The new scheme will start on 2 September between Rákos and Pilisvörösvár (line S76) There was a testing period on that line between 7 April and 31 May and it seems it was successful because MÁV plans to expand the scheme to other railway lines in Hungary MÁV said in Western Europe trains commuting without ticket inspectors are common The next step will be the Budapest-Esztergom and Budapest-Déli-Komárom (S10) lines from 16 September there will be no ticket inspectors on the Rába InterRégió trains on the weekends The next round will start on 30 September by extending the system to the Budapest-Székesfehérvár (S36 G43) and the Budapest-Déli-Százhalombatta and Budapest-Déli-Pusztaszabolcs lines The extension will happen on the Budapest-Nyugati-Monor(-Szolnok) (S50 Z50) line and some weekend night passenger trains between Budapest and Szolnok The route to Budapest Airport from the Nyugati Railway Station is on the S50 line but you have to take off the train at the Ferihegy train station to get on the 100E bus (or a taxi) and get to the Airport with a 10-15 minutes ride The lines will operate without a ticket inspector for a testing period MÁV promised to draw passengers’ attention via loudspeakers that they were travelling without ticket inspectors That is because their task is not only verifying tickets’ validity but also helping passengers in case of emergency supporting the conductor and disabled passengers MÁV wrote passengers may use the emergency call if needed (technical problems health issues) and establish contact with the conductor you should call the conductor only in real emergency cases MÁV also highlighted that you could only start your ride with a valid ticket or pass The state-owned company will have random ticket inspections on the lines Travelling on the trains without a ticket or pass would mean higher surcharges Disabled people should inform MÁV 36 hours prior to travel to get proper help The new system will place more burden on the conductors They will inform the passengers about any irregularities concerning their travel they will be responsible for safe boarding and get-offs via the surveillance camera system They will also help passengers with disabilities ticket inspectors will return to the trains This will lead to an epidemic of fare evasion Even though county and country passes are available for paltry sums many will seek to evade paying for tickets purely for the thrill of getting one over the state The scheme will have been costed on the basis that most passengers will have a pass or are law abiding and buy tickets while offering a pathway to a free ride for a hardcore It’ll also serve to increase the quantity of anti-social elements on the train which is off-putting for ordinary travellers There is an immediate saving in not having to pay the wages of ticket inspectors but the longer term damage will be greater