Hungary to Open Humanitarian Corridor for People Fleeing Ukraine

On Friday, Hungary’s Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Szijjarto said his country will open a humanitarian corridor for citizens of Ukraine as well as third countries fleeing Ukraine.

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Third countries that have requested help from Hungary to get their citizens home include India, Iran, Ecuador, Israel, Zimbabwe, the Maldives, Mongolia and Jordan.

"We are going to let them enter without a visa and take them to the nearest international airport, which is Debrecen," Szijjarto said in a video posted on his Facebook page.

The flow of people has been steady at the five border crossing points between Ukraine and Hungary, but there were 3-5-kilometer-long queues of cars on the Ukrainian side. At the request of Ukraine, Hungary will facilitate and speed up border check procedures for humanitarian deliveries to Ukraine.

On Thursday night, the Hungarian government adopted a decree according to which refugees from Ukraine would receive temporary protection. This applies to all Ukrainian citizens as well as to third-country nationals legally residing in Ukraine.

Hungary's government expects around 600,000 refugees to arrive in the country from Ukraine, according to a map shown on Prime Minister Viktor Orban' Facebook page.

For now, it is difficult to quantify the number of refugees, as many of them hold dual citizenship and/or have families or secondary residences in Hungary, a non-governmental organization (NGO) volunteer working at the Ukrainian-Hungarian border said.