September 2015/Hungary. An exceptional Hungarian adventure! After being shot at close to the Iranian border, almost drowned in the Mediterranean, beaten in Turkey and starved in Hungary, refugees walked on foot until they reached the Austrian border. Never mind the buses offered by the least welcoming country in the EU, thousands were already close to Austria when Viktor Orban decided to send them buses.
September 2003/Hungary. Back then, my bus heading for France was kept for no reason as soon as we entered Hungary. We spent 5 to 6 hours stranded between Romania and Hungary because people on the bus refused to bribe the Hungarian officers. Bribe is and was customary. The following day, at 9 am we reached the Austrian border, or better said the queue hoping to cross the Austrian border. From 9am until 10pm they kept us queuing because again, no bribe was offered. Hungarian small shops were advertising products in Hungarian, and one in two shops had cardboard displays written in Romanian for Romanians: “Do not touch! Do not steal!” That was the most unwelcoming Hungarian adventure I had as a student. I can somehow relate to what refugees went through in Hungary.
