Erstellt am: 17. 7. 2015 - 12:55 Uhr
A New Fence For Fortress Europe
More details have been released about the barrier that Hungary plans to build to stem the flow of migrants over its border with Serbia. Hungary says over 80,000 have crossed its Balkan border so far this year.
Hungarian officials say it will be a fence made by materials produced by inmates in Hungarian prisons and will be erected by 900 soldiers. It should be completed by December.
EPA/ZOLTAN GERGELEY KELEMEN HUNGARY OUT
Anna Magyar is a Hungarian politician from the ruling Fidesz party. She is from the Csongrád County which borders Serbia.
I met her in Brussels at a meeting of the EUs Committee of the Regions and asked her why she believes it is necessary to build this barrier:
We have seen a very rapid change in the patterns of migration. In the year 2012 there were only 300 illegal migrants entering Csongrád County. So far this year the number has been around 50,000. That’s a huge increase, so it has become a very important issue in Hungary.
Chris Cummins: Hungary used to be behind what was called the ‘Iron Curtain’. If you travel along the border between Austria and Hungary you see a lot of monuments to the people who helped tear down that barrier between humanity. Isn’t it symbolically a grave signal of a lack of liberty that a new barrier is being built in Hungary?
Chris Cummins
Anna Magyar: We can talk about symbolism but the wall is about creating legal entrance to Hungary. Those who would like to enter Hungary in a legal way can do so using the normal border crossings. That’s all. So I think it is important to see that this is not a symbolic thing. It is about how to deal with this mass migration – not just for Hungary but for Europe as a whole.
CC: But it is a symbolic thing. A wall or a fence is a symbolic thing. You can’t get away from that.
Maybe. On the border there are many, many people coming to Hungary in a way that is not legal. This is causing special problems – economic problems, humanitarian problems and other problems.
CC: Some of these people who are arriving are coming either because they are fleeing grinding poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa or war and instability in places like Syria or Libya. Isn’t it a inhumane act to put up a fence to keep these people out?
I think there are some refugees whose lives are threatened. I think European citizens must help them. It’s obvious that we must help those who are trying to save their lives. That’s one thing. But we also see at the border that there are migrants who are trying to find a better life. That is understandable. But I think Europe has to decide how many of these migrants it wants to take.