Sir, – I am sorry to see that the decision of the Hungarian people to return Viktor Orbán to power has met with a very negative reaction by the media in the more wealthy EU member states, including in our own country.
Hungary, while once a very significant country, suffered economic destruction in the period from 1946 to the collapse of the old eastern bloc, and is only now able to begin to rebuild its economy and raise the standard of living of all of its people.
In rural parts of the country there is, unfortunately, very real and genuine poverty. Life for many people in Hungary is still very hard, and it is in this context that many Hungarians feel that, before taking in refugees who will have to be supported by the state, the country’s limited resources should be first directed to its own poor and underprivileged citizens.
I think it is most unfair for our media to cast aspersions on the administration in Hungary for giving its own people priority.
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We should accept the democratic will of the Hungarian people, and not decide that it is we who know what is best for them. – Yours, etc,
ROBERT WALSH,
Dublin 2.
A chara, – I am surprised that Fine Gael has yet to congratulate its European People’s Party comrade Viktor Orbán on his re-election as prime minister of Hungary. – Is mise,
LOMAN Ó LOINGSIGH,
Dublin 24.