2015-06-19 12:39:00

EU, Serbia anger over Hungary's border anti-migration fence



(Vatican Radio)  The European Union and Serbia's government have condemned plans by Hungary to build a fence along the border with Serbia to halt a flow of migrants.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report:

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó says the fence is needed as his landlocked Central European nation of 10 million people has become an attractive destination for tens of thousands of migrants entering Europe through the Balkans from the Middle East and beyond.

This year as many as 57,000 asylum seekers arrived in Hungary, up from 43,000 over 2014, and just roughly 2,000 in 2012, according to migration authorities.

Szijjártó made clear the government doesn't want to waste any time before building the fence, despite international concern. ”The government has decided to instruct the Interior Minister to immediately start the preparations to physically seal the Hungarian-Serbian border,” he told reporters in Budapest, adding that preparations should be ready by next Wednesday.

“We are talking about a 175 kilometer-long border area whose physical closure can be ensured with a four metre high fence,” the minister confirmed.
 
"Walls, fences"

In a reaction, Serbia's prime minister Aleksandar Vucic said he was "shocked and surprised" by the project that could isolate his country, which plans to join the European Union.

He added that "walls and fences" are not a solution for the crisis that has seen tens of thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa crossing the western Balkans, trying to reach the EU as they flee wars and poverty in their home countries. Among them are many Christians fleeing persecution.

The EU's executive, the European Commission, agrees. Commission spokesperson for justice and home affairs, Natasha Bertaud suggests that the project violates European obligations and urges Hungary to find other ways to cope with the inflow of illegal migrants.

“The commission does not promote the use of fences and encourages member states to use alternative measures," she said
at a press conference in Brussels. "We have only recently taken down walls in Europe. We should not be putting them up."

Critics say Hungary's right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán took the decision as his Fidesz party is losing ground to the far right anti-migration Jobbik Party.

The Hungarian and Serbian governments are to discuss the fence on July 1.








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