Last Wednesday, Professor Holly Case spoke on the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe, focusing specifically on Hungary, which has come under international criticism for erecting a fence in order to keep refugees out. During the discussion, there were three things that stuck out to me. The first is that prior to the erection of the fence, it was primarily Hungarian people who were reaching out and offering aid to the refugees as they entered Hungary. For a country that erected a fence to keep the refugees out, I hadn’t expected the public to have been so welcoming and helpful.

Secondly, Case stated that a large number of Hungarians wanted to either help the refugees, or were at least indifferent about them; the people who wanted to keep the refugees from entering the country were in the minority. Again, because Hungary is part of the Western tradition which abides by democracy, I assumed that public support must have been in support of keeping the refugees out; however, it appears it was a decision made by the government, not by the people, but rather for the people.

The third and final thing that stuck out to me was that the Two Tailed Dog Party, a political activist group that opposes the restriction of refugees entering the country, doesn’t actually want to take on a governing role. The Two Tailed Dog Party is fine with criticizing the government and advocates for different governing decisions, but it doesn’t want to actually enter the political arena. Although I believe that the content of their campaign is meaningful, the campaign itself seems empty if they aren’t willing to make an active attempt to change the political situation. The advice that I would offer the Two Tailed Dog Party is to “be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Since they want the political environment and governing decisions to change, they should try to change them by entering into politics.

In light of Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris, it seems that the international community may dial back its criticisms of Hungary’s refugee decisions. Now other nations are having serious discussions about whether they too should continue to allow Syrian refugees into their country. Ultimately these discussions center on a government’s responsibility to protect its citizens from potential harm on the one hand, and the human obligation to help those in need on the other. Which responsibility takes precedence for a government? It will be interesting to see how these tensions play out in the coming months, and how those decisions will affect the strength and unity of the European Union.