Like other countries, Viktor Orbán promoted Hungarian self-awareness and nationalism, despite the objections of Brussels. He distributed Hungarian passports to people of Hungarian descent in Romania and other countries, who, as eligible to vote, represent a significant advantage for him in the elections. His long, close relationship with Putin hurt him politically in the face of the upcoming elections, even as he quickly supported European Union sanctions against Russia and warmly welcomed Ukrainian refugees, wrote Steven Erlanger in the New York Times.
Meanwhile, according to CNN, "the war showed Europe's selective empathy."
In 2018, at the height of the European migrant crisis, Viktor Orbán declared that the issue would turn into a European frenzy, while Central European countries skipped the EU migration summit at the time. These same countries have previously rejected proposals from other European nations to accept a certain number of refugees. Now Central European countries like Hungary and Slovakia are accepting hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees. According to HA Hellyer, a researcher at the Washington-based Carnegie Foundation for International Peace, it is sad that after the Holocaust and the Bosnian genocide, so many people still live with tribal and racist thoughts in their heads, the leading American portal reads.
MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes branded Poland and Hungary racist and anti-Muslim for taking in people fleeing war in Ukraine while rejecting those fleeing Syria, Breitbart reported. The announcer called these countries hypocrites, blaming racism and post-9/11 paranoia. Last month, New York Times reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones accused journalists reporting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine of using racist language and viewpoints, because she believes that the special sympathy shown for the white victims in this narrative aims to separate civilized Europe from other non-civilized nations.
