How Hungary stops illegal migration | Telegraph Firsthand

The migrant crisis of 2015 didn’t just reshape Europe’s borders – it reshaped how Europe sees itself. Nowhere is that shift more visible than in Hungary: a country that became a crucial transit route for migrants from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan on their way to Germany, France, and the United Kingdom – and one that has since taken a sharply different path. Though a member of both the European Union and NATO, Hungary has increasingly set itself apart. On immigration, national sovereignty, and the limits of Brussels’ authority, its government has adopted a far more confrontational stance than many of its European counterparts. To understand why and how, in the second film of our documentary series before the Hungarian election on April 12, I travelled to the country – speaking with senior figures in Viktor Orbán’s government, visiting sites central to the country’s national identity, and meeting border officials on the front lines of one of the defining challenges of our time. What I found raises a deeper question: Is Hungary clinging to an older vision of Europe — rooted in national interest, tradition, and self-preservation? Or is it pointing toward Europe’s future, as rising instability forces nations to rethink the balance between cooperation and control? Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/02/hungary-brussels-eu-illegal-migrants-border-crossing-orban/ ► Sign up to the Telegraph's free new daily newsletter, From the Editor, bringing you the latest news, features and analysis from the Telegraph newsroom: www.telegraph.co.uk/customer/secure/newsletter/from-the-editor/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_youtube_telegraphmain ► Get the latest headlines: www.telegraph.co.uk?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_youtube_telegraphmain ► Stay ahead with a Telegraph digital subscription: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/customer/subscription/store?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_youtube_telegraphmain https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ and https://www.youtube.com/telegraph are websites of The Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.