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EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson on Thursday has raised concerns about a new Hungarian visa rule for foreign workers from Russia and Belarus.<\/p>\n
It must be ensured that “Russian nationals who could pose espionage or other security threats face the highest level of scrutiny,” Johansson wrote in a letter to the Hungarian Interior Minister S\u00e1ndor Pint\u00e9r, which she shared on social media platform X.<\/p>\n
Johansson wrote that the scheme threatens to undermine the protection of Europe’s passport-free Schengen travel area and called on the Hungarian government to explain itself.<\/p>\n
Hungary has previously operated a special visa regime for foreign workers from Ukraine and Serbia. Budapest expanded the rules in July to eight countries, including visitors from Russia and Belarus.<\/p>\n
According to the visa regulations, foreign workers may stay for two years and then have their stay extended for three years at a time – for as often as they wish.<\/p>\n
Foreign workers may also work in any profession. However, in order to benefit from the regulation, they must prove that they have a job, accommodation and health insurance in Hungary.<\/p>\n
The regulations have sparked outrage in the EU in recent days. European People’s Party’s (EPP) Chairman Manfred Weber warned European Council President Charles Michel in a letter that the visa liberalization move could pose a “serious risk” to EU security.<\/p>\n
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n’s government is viewed as close to Russia by other EU member states.<\/p>\n
Orb\u00e1n came under fierce criticism from other EU countries for recent visits to Kiev, Moscow and Beijing on a self-proclaimed “peace mission” to end the Ukraine war.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n