(AP) Hundreds of migrants a day streamed through the Hungarian village of Asotthalom on their way to Western Europe in 2015. Today there are almost none. So one might think the political discourse has moved on.
Think again.
In this month’s European Parliament election, no issue rings louder in Hungary than migration. Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his right-wing Fidesz party have campaigned almost exclusively on anti-immigration policies and it remains a hot topic in this formerly beleaguered village as well.
Asotthalom’s mayor has left the nationalist Jobbik party to form a new movement with an even harder anti-migrant stance.
“Migrants still get through, but they are caught in Asotthalom,” gloated Laszlo Toroczkai, the mayor who is also his party’s leading candidate in the European election.
