Fuss about the facility

Is Hungary planning an asylum camp, yes or no?

The refugee situation: Fürst returns the accusation of "fake news" to the FPÖ.(Bild: Christian Schulter)

This question of security has been going back and forth. Now the SPÖ Burgenland is pushing for a clear answer. The FPÖ and Hungary should take a clear stance.

The establishment of a refugee camp in the Hungarian town of Vitnyéd near Austria has been the subject of heated debate on both sides of the border for weeks. It started with large demonstrations on site. While the SPÖ waited for a response from the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, the FPÖ rushed ahead with the news from the Minister of the Chancellery, Gergely Gulyás, that no reception camp was planned in Vitnyéd.

Accusation of scaremongering
Instead, there was talk of a vacation camp in the course of renovating a former vocational school. The SPÖ was then accused of "fake news" and "scaremongering" by the FPÖ. Now the tables have turned. A document that - as reported - was leaked to the weekly newspaper "Magyar Hang" contradicts the statements of the Minister of the Chancellery. According to the document from the Ministry of the Interior in Budapest, a camp with 500 places was indeed planned in Vitnyéd at a cost of almost €12 million.

"What did the FPÖ know?"
The FPÖ has used its good contacts with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's party to "spread fake news for Hungary's government", is now the accusation of SPÖ parliamentary group chairman Roland Fürst. "What did the FPÖ know?" he asks. An apology is due to Governor Hans Peter Doskozil, who has the interests of Burgenland at heart.

The SPÖ party leader refers to a document that is available to a newspaper. It confirms the plans for an asylum camp.(Bild: Karl Grammer)

Fürst also believes that Hungary needs to take a clear stance: "The official statements are not 100 percent reliable. Because a camp with high barbed wire and police protection does not look like a vacation camp." Fürst is spreading "arbitrary allegations", countered the FPÖ. The document available to "Magyar Hang" is unconfirmed.