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As the first corona patient was reported, Viktor Orban's government quickly resorted to its anti-migration ploys. The first patent seemed to be an Iranian student – studying legally in Hungary - so "migration is responsible for the spread of epidemic" (Photo: European commission)

Feature

How Hungary's Orban blamed migrants for coronavirus

As the first corona patient was reported, Viktor Orban's government quickly resorted to its anti-migration ploys. The first patent seemed to be an Iranian student – studying legally in Hungary - so "migration is responsible for the spread of epidemic" (Photo: European commission)

It feels like a lazy Sunday morning in August. Streets are deserted in Budapest; public transport runs with a handful of passengers. Children and dogs are playing in parks. Just some homeless people hang around in groups, smoking and chatting undisturbed.

People look suspiciously at each other and practice "social distancing": no handshakes or kisses. Surprisingly disciplined, they are queueing up in front of the pharmacies, where only as many people can enter as there are counters.

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Author Bio

Edit Inotai was a journalist and foreign editor at Nepszabadsag, a Hungarian daily, until 2014. She now works for German public TV ARD, Balkan Insight, and is a senior fellow of the Budapest-based think tank CEID.

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