Hungary’s Orbán claims Germany's awakening to migration costs

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on September 13 that Germany at long last “woke up” to the adverse consequences of migration.

“Border protection has become a negative word in recent times, because everyone has had to let the migrants in — whoever stops them is the bad guy,” Orbán said in an interview on Hungarian state radio, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media. 

“Now Germany woke up: terrorism, crime, the social and financial burden of migrants who do not want to work, all these things are beginning to wake the Germans up.”

“Even the chancellor woke up, so I said, “welcome to the club,” because he is pushing for the borders to be protected,” Orbán said about German leader Olaf Scholz.

Meanwhile, last week, during a town-hall meeting in south Berlin, many participants expressed their dissatisfaction with Chancellor Scholz, criticising his lack of enthusiasm and his failure to outline a clear vision for the country.

Opposition politicians argue that voters have lost faith in a government that, amid constant bickering and blame-shifting, is struggling to address Germany's pressing issues — including irregular immigration, the rise of populists on both the right and left, and a stagnating economy.

Friedrich Merz, leader of the opposition centre-right Christian Democrats, remarked late last month that “this country is slipping from the chancellor’s grasp.” Many of the 130 attendees at the Berlin meeting sought reassurance that Scholz’s government grasped the severity of the crisis but were left disheartened.

Some members of Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) are already privately suggesting that he should be replaced by a more popular figure for next year’s national election, with potential replacements including Defence Minister Boris Pistorius or Anke Rehlinger, the Prime Minister of Saarland and a former shot-putter.