EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson has voiced concern about Hungary's recent decision to make it easier for Russian and Belarusian citizens to enter the country and asked Budapest for clarifications.
At the start of last month, after Hungary took over the European Union's rotating presidency, Budapest published details of a so-called National Card, a new fast-track visa system for citizens of eight countries including Russia and Belarus to enter Hungary without security checks or other restrictions.
Budapest has said many would be employed in the building of a nuclear power plant that is contracted to Russia’s Rosatom but the move sparked criticism it could open the doors to spies and saboteurs.
In an open letter addressed to Hungarian Interior Minister Sandor Pinter and published on X late on August 1, Johansson said Russia is a security threat for the European Union, and pointed to the need of "more, not less vigilance."
Russian citizens do not face a ban on entering the EU and the border control-free Schengen zone, which also includes non-EU members Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland if they possess a valid visa and have no ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, following Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the West imposed sanctions that include a ban on Russian-owned airlines operating in EU airspace, making it more difficult for Russian nationals to travel to the bloc.
Although rules on issuing working permits remain a matter for each EU member state, "the extension of the facilitated processing of residence and work permit applications for citizens of Russia and Belarus could lead to a de facto circumvention of the restrictions the Union has imposed," Johansson wrote.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has maintained friendly relations with President Vladimir Putin despite Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, was subjected to widespread criticism after traveling to Moscow to meet with the Russian leader shortly after taking over the EU's presidency.
Orban said the visit, and a subsequent trip to China, were part of a peace mission, but EU leaders made clear he did not represent them on his travels.
Many countries have since refused to send their ministers to meetings held in Hungary, prompting them to be rescheduled in Brussels.
Warning that "we need more, not less vigilance," Johansson asked Budapest for clarification.
"Given the potential security threat for the Schengen area of these unilateral measures, I invite your authorities to contact my services and reply to a number of questions annexed to this letter no later than August 19," the EU commissioner wrote.
"Giving potential Russian spies and saboteurs easy EU access would undermine the security of us all. If [the Hungarian] easy access scheme is a risk, we will act," Johansson wrote on X.
Her letter came after a similar warning by Manfred Weber, head of the European People’s party (EPP), the European Parliament's largest political bloc. Weber, in a letter to European Council President Charles Michel, said the Hungarian move raised "serious national security concerns."