Telegraph: Hungarian Embassies Ordered To Gather Negative Stories About Migrants
- 8 Apr 2018 8:43 AM
- Hungary Journal
Hungarian embassies in Europe have been ordered by the MFA in Budapest to collect negative stories about immigration in order to support the re-election campaign of Viktor Orban, an article by The Telegraph reveals.
In an internal email, obtained by the British newspaper, Tamas Menczer, the deputy Under-Secretary of Communication and Parliamentary Coordination tells the embassies to send negative stories about migrants, “integration problems, no-go zones, educational difficulties” in order to serve the Orban government’s campaign, which focuses on migration.
“I need all the specific news and declarations about the problem of migration in a given country. If an official says this – which can also happen – I need it even more,” Menczer writes. The letters were addressed to the ambassadors and first counsellors of Hungarian missions in Sweden, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Italy,
In his email, Tamas Menczer, the deputy Under-Secretary, concludes that the embassy reports on immigration issues are “important to us”, and then finally requests diplomats to find Hungarian citizens who have had bad experiences of migration.
“Especially, if you can get hold of Hungarian citizens planning to move back home or have serious negative experiences and would be willing to talk about them, please do let me know,” he writes.
The full letter was published by Index.hu in Hungarian.
The Telegraph notified the OSCE about the letter, but they declined to comment on the email, citing a policy never to discuss ongoing campaigns. The OSCE will make a preliminary statement on the conduct of the election on Monday and will, as in all elections, examine whether state resources have been misused during the campaign.
MTI photo: Balogh Zoltán
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