[5] Hungarian immigration patterns to Western Europe increased in the 1990s and especially since 2004, after Hungary's admission in the European Union.
Thousands of Hungarians from Hungary sought available work through guest-worker contracts in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Spain, and Portugal.
It did not grant the right to vote, even in national elections, to Hungarian citizens unless they also resided in Hungary on a permanent basis.
[46] In June 2013, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén announced that he expected the number to reach about half a million by the end of the year.
Since the Hungarian diaspora could start voting in elections in Hungary from 2012,[70] they have overwhelmingly supported the ruling Fidesz.