Hungary plans to build anti-migrant border fence

In five months, 50,000 people illegally crossed from Serbia

WASHINGTON— An unprecedented migrant crisis is causing panic in Europe, the intended destination for many of those risking their lives for a better future.

European nations are putting up various barriers to this migration. For example, they have pushed back against search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean arguing that it creates a “pull factor.”

But a new plan from Hungary involves an actual barrier. At a news conference this week, Peter Szijjarto, minister of foreign affairs and trade, announced his government was preparing to build a four-metre fence along its 175-kilometre border with Serbia.

“Hungary cannot afford to wait any longer,” Szijjarto told reporters on Wednesday.

Hungary is a member of the European Union and the associated Schengen Area. This grouping of 26 countries has eliminated their internal borders, which means that there are no passport or other border controls. The Hungarian government says that large numbers of migrants use the Hungary-Serbia border to enter the European Union, where they may claim asylum or work illegally.

According to data from Frontex, the European border agency, between January and May more than 50,000 migrants made illegal border crossings between Serbia and Hungary.

Almost half of these migrants were from Kosovo, Frontex’s figures suggest, followed by Afghanistan (11,253) and Syria (7,640).

Data from previous years shows a dramatic increase in the number of border crossings in what is referred to as the “Western Balkan route.”

EU officials, who already have a somewhat difficult recent relationship with Hungary, have criticized the plan. Spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud told reporters that the organization “does not promote the use of fences and encourages member states to use alternative measures.”

Bertaud also went further, apparently alluding to the removal of the border fence between Hungary and Austria in May 1989, an important moment in history that helped lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

“We have only recently taken down walls in Europe,” she said Thursday. “We should not be putting them up.”

But so far the most heated response has come from those on the other side of the fence. On Thursday, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told Serbian state television during a visit to Oslo that he was “shocked and surprised” by the plan.