The new Hungarian Prime Minister, Péter Magyar, immediately halted the issuance of new permits for workers from non-EU countries. He fulfilled a key promise of the election campaign.
The new Hungarian Prime Minister, Péter Magyar, restricted the arrival of workers from countries outside the European Union (EU) by government decree. TASR informs about it based on the report of the DPA agency.
The issuance of new residence permits under rules for foreign workers introduced by Viktor Orbán’s previous government has stopped with immediate effect, according to a regulation published on Saturday night (June 6) in the Hungarian Official Gazette.
Number of foreign workers
According to estimates, around 90,000 people from non-EU countries work in Hungary, which represents about 2% of all employed people. They work mainly in the battery and automotive industry, in construction, as seasonal workers in agriculture and in delivery services. Most of them come from the Philippines, Ukraine, China, Vietnam and India.
Limiting the arrival of foreign workers was one of the promises of Magyar’s election campaign. The politician who defeated Orbán justified this by saying that more Hungarians should be able to get jobs, which would mean that companies would no longer be able to try to reduce wages by hiring foreigners.
Reactions of industrial unions
However, industry and employers’ unions point out that there is a labor shortage in many sectors in the country.
According to the regulation, existing residence permits remain valid until they expire. It remains open whether it will be possible to extend the expiring permits. This does not mean the complete end of issuing residence permits to citizens from non-EU countries. Rather, the suspension refers to the simplified regime for foreign workers introduced by Orbán’s government.
Orbán’s simplified regime
The latter enabled relatively smooth recruitment of labor from countries outside the EU through intermediary agencies controlled by businessmen close to Orbán. Magyar also criticized this practice during the election campaign.
