Orbán: Hungary Will Soon Lead Europe in Its Share of Jewish Residents

Translation of an article originally published in Hungarian by Magyar Jelen on March 5, 2026 by János Kemény.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán joined Egon Rónai on ATV Plus, where he stated that before the migration crisis, Hungary ranked third in Europe in terms of Jewish population, but now, he believes, the country has moved up to second place.

Orbán added that "we will soon be first."

His words echoed comments Gergely Gulyás, Hungary's cabinet minister and head of the Prime Minister's Office, made last fall. "Due to rising antisemitism in Western Europe, Hungary welcomes Jews who are leaving because of anti-Jewish hostility," Gulyás said at an earlier government press briefing. In his view, Jews can feel safe only in Hungary, because large-scale Muslim immigration into Western Europe is driving antisemitism.

The government has also floated another possibility. It would come into effect if a "problem" were to arise in the Middle East involving the Jewish state. As Gulyás put it: "We haven't received any such request yet, but Hungary is ready to take in actual refugees."

He added that several hundred thousand Hungarians already live in Israel, people who have either already taken advantage of Hungarian citizenship eligibility or could do so at any time, since they have Hungarian ancestry.

"Western Europe's Jewish communities face the gravest danger. As EU citizens, they can come to Hungary at any time," the minister said.