Hungary Plans ‘Stop Soros’ Laws Amid Refugee Row

Hungary published details Thursday of tough anti-immigration laws named after “public enemy” George Soros amid a row over claims Budapest covered up a hike in refugee arrivals.

Hungarian-born US billionaire Soros has been called “a public enemy” by Prime Minister Viktor Orban who accuses the 87-year-old of orchestrating migration into Europe since the refugee crisis began in 2015.

Hungary erected fences on its southern borders in 2015 and last year began holding all adult asylum-seekers in guarded border camps.

The latest three laws — called the “Stop Soros law package” — aim to shut remaining loopholes that allow “illegal immigration” to persist, government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said in a radio interview.

The proposed measures include entry bans on foreigners and restraining orders stopping Hungarians approaching the border areas if they are deemed to be “supporting” or “organising” illegal immigration, according to the draft legislation published on the government website.

A 25-percent tax will also be levied on foreign funding received by organisations that support illegal immigration to help pay for border defence, the government says.

The proposals could go before parliament in February.

Although Soros is not mentioned by name in the bills, Kovacs accused the financier and philanthropist of destabilising Europe’s future by “wanting as many migrants as possible” to arrive.

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The latest measures follow laws brought in last year that target nongovernmental organisations backed by Soros and the prestigious Budapest-based Central European University he founded in 1991.

The 87-year-old’s face also featured on billboards nationwide during a so-called “national consultation” campaign attacking his alleged pro-immigration “Soros Plan”.

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According to Orban the election will decide if Hungary stays a “land for Hungarians or becomes a country of immigration”.

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