Vitalina Novoselova intends to stay in Budapest for as long as the war must escape. He is an exception, as most Ukrainian refugees travel quickly through Hungary to the rest of Europe.
BUDAPEST Every day, new and new trains arrive at Budapest’s Kelet railway station, transporting war refugees from neighboring Ukraine.
Hundreds of tired and war-torn people step out of the trains. They are young mothers with children and the elderly who have escaped the horrors of war.
All that is in hand is what has been able to be taken along and carried through the getaway.
Kelet’s status is a transit point, as the majority of refugees move through Hungary directly or after one overnight stay to the rest of Europe.
Just under 300,000 refugees have arrived in Hungary. At this stage, the country’s authorities estimate that less than a million people will arrive in Hungary from Ukraine.
It is estimated that only ten percent of those who crossed the border have stayed in the country for longer. Many of them belong to the Hungarian minority in Ukraine.
“I will be in Hungary as long as the war continues”
Escaped from Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine with her son Vitalina Novoselova is an exception. He intends to remain in Hungary until he can return safely to his homeland.
– I’ll be here as long as I have to be. However, my life is in Ukraine, she says as she sits on the couch in the living room living room.
– I’ll be back if I still have a place to go. If I don’t have a home, I can’t take my son back.
Novoselova, 33, arrived with her ten-year-old son Viktorin with Budapest to a week and a half ago. He has caught on the sidelines of a new life amazingly fast.
On the morning of the interview day, Novoselova has been in a job interview. He has made it to the second round and it seems likely that he will get a two-month fixed-term job.
If the place is confirmed, he will start working for a company that will provide office space to foreign companies.
The training of a lawyer and good language skills have helped her to settle in the new country quickly.
– I have to find something to do for myself. I thought I might find a part-time job that can be done remotely if needed. So I have time to be with my child. I have to start making money.
Hungarian National Conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbánin the government is known as anti-immigration. Hungary is receiving refugees from Ukraine, as are other countries.
Two days after the start of the Russian invasion Vladimir Putin with the fraternal Orbán declared in the border village of Beregsurány that Hungary is a good friend of Ukraine and the Ukrainians. Orbán has been campaigning against immigration for years.
The government announced fairly soon after the Russian invasion that there were 80,000 vacancies in Hungary, mainly in the construction industry.
According to the government, these jobs are also available to refugees. However, job vacancies in the male-dominated sector may not be of much help to mothers and children fleeing Ukraine.
Novoselova praises the helpfulness of the Hungarians
Currently, Vitalina Novoselova is in family accommodation in the more prosperous area of Buda. Accommodation was arranged through an aid organization. Next, he plans to find an apartment for himself and his son.
– I want to find a small home where we can start a small family life of our own. I also want to find a school place for Viktor. I hope he gets friends from there.
Novoselova holds back tears as she tells of her life situation.
– It wasn’t an easy decision to leave here because my parents stayed in my hometown. I talk to them every day. Today, my mother called at half past five in the morning because our hometown was bombed.
Novoselova’s mother has to spend time in the basement of her home in a bomb shelter. Novoselova’s father and ex-husband are on the front.
Novoselova says she only left in the face of compulsion.
– We waited several days and prayed. The bags were pre-packaged. When the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant came under fire, I stated that I had to go with my child and take him to a safe place.
They folded part of their escape with two suitcases because there was no other option. During the five-day trip, they sometimes had to spend the night in the car.
– I want to remember my country as beautiful. Not destroyed. I don’t allow myself to cry because it would make my child’s life harder. I focus on being calm.
Novoselova praises the helpfulness of the Hungarians. His life is getting better.
– Hungarians are really cordial. They have taken us to their homes, in the middle of their own lives. They have opened their doors to us. That is really important to us.
Many arrivals are directed directly to departing buses
At Kelet railway station, there are enough visitors like Novoselova. The station hall has become an aid center after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Here, refugees arriving by train are greeted by volunteers and interpreters from various organizations. In Hungary, refugees are not helped by the state, but by organizations and ordinary people.
At Kelet’s station, volunteers help people move forward in a difficult situation in a strange country. One desk will help you arrange accommodation and the other will help you get on and off. Food, drink and medicine are distributed to people in need.
Despite the hard work pressure and fatigue, aid workers convey cordiality.
– The pressure is increasing day by day, but our organization is also getting better all the time, says a volunteer from Caritas Chaba Szabó.
The logistics are downright amazing. Arriving from the Ukrainian border Tetiana Lakei directed directly to a bus departing for Germany.
At the bus door, Lakei tells how grateful he is to the helpers.
– Thank you to everyone who has helped us. Thanks to everyone who made our getaway easier. I hope for peace in Ukraine, he says, when the bus leaves.
You can discuss the topic until 11pm on Saturday.