Roundup: "The fence is effective," affirms Hungarian Justice Minister on border fence

Questioned about the fears provoked by the building of a barbed-wire fence along the Hungarian border with Serbia, Hungarian Minister of Justice Laszlo Trocsanyi on Monday said "the fence is effective."

Trocsanyi made the remarks while addressing the press in Strasbourg at the Council of Europe (CoE) following a meeting with the CoE Secretary General, who had written to Budapest to demand explanations regarding new laws adopted by the country for its migration policy.

"When I see the situation today, I think that we have succeeded in handling the problem. The Serbs understand the difficulties of a transit country like Hungary. We maintain strong contacts with them," he said.

CoE Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland let it be known in September that he intended to question Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the subject of new legislation adopted by his country in the context of the migration crisis.

"I am concerned about a series of recent amendments to legislation in Hungary which will, among other things, allow the Government to declare a 'state of crisis' caused by mass immigration," he had declared.

"I will ask for reassurances that if a 'state of crisis' is declared, Hungary will remain committed to its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights," the secretary general had specified.

In response, the Hungarian justice minister made assurances on Monday that his country "respects and will respect international norms and criteria," and that he had given to the CoE a "summary" of the different laws recently adopted by Budapest, as well as clarifications regarding the "functioning of the fence and of the transit zones in practice."

Secretary General Jagland pronounced that he was "happy to have had the possibility to exchange on the subject" with the representative of the Hungarian government. Asked whether the new information he had received had lifted his concerns, he responded with prudence: "These are very complicated questions. We must look closer at the text of the laws."

The Hungarian minister recalled that, since the beginning of the year, 250,000 people had penetrated Hungary's border. "No one loves the barrier. The Hungarian population understands the situation of the migrants, but the people who live in the border zones have struggled to accept seeing them pass every day, in their gardens or on their private property," he argued.

According to Minister Trocsanyi, the time had come to "maintain public order and respect the right to asylum." "This crisis must be dealt with at the European level. Only European solidarity will allow us to find an equitable and convenient solution for everyone. A real European consensus is indispensable," he added.

Concerning the role of the army present at the border, the Hungarian minister evoked a "misunderstanding." "As in other countries, the protection of the borders falls to the police. The army was called to reinforce them," he explained.

In response to Laszlo Trocsanyi's deliberately reassuring statements, however, many voices within the European Union have denounced "the intransigence of Hungary's migration policy." Violent clashes between migrants and police forces ten days ago at the Hungarian border with Serbia have provoked strong criticism of Budapest, notably from Greece, which judged the behavior "undignified of a member state of the EU."

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, expected to address the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE on Thursday, has appealed to the EU to react in order to put an end to "this torture and this non European behavior." Endit