Government official: Migration problem, not solution
In an English-language post published on abouthungary.hu, Zoltan Kovacs said that Gideon Rachman’s piece, In praise of mass immigration, argued that “even without mass immigration, there would be no ‘social peace’; and the lack of immigration would come with immense social and economic costs.”
“Nobody has ever said that without immigration our societies would live in perfect harmony and peace. However, it’s important to distinguish between the types of social conflicts that we Europeans, hailing overwhelmingly from Jewish and Christian traditions, have grown used to managing in the last millennium and the current challenges posed by mass immigration,” Kovacs said, adding that the rise of conservative parties in countries hit by immigration was a sign of people sharing the same views throughout Europe.
“Secondly, remedying the economic drawbacks of refusing mass immigration is not all black and white … Take Hungary’s new guest worker regulation, for example: We are able to fill in workforce gaps without sacrificing the foundations of our society and culture along the way,” he said, adding that Hungary’s economic success was based on utilising the potential of the Hungarian labour market.
“The liberal idea of welcoming masses of immigrants from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds, who will then seamlessly integrate into our societies, remains a fairy tale. You may not see it from the other side of the Channel, but it’s simply not working,” Kovacs said.