An astonishing 35 million migrants are heading for Europe, according to Hungary’s minister for foreign affairs and trade Peter Szijjártó. Speaking as the besieged country begins work on its second fence to stop migrants heading across its border he predicted the current crisis is only in its early stages and will not end for years.
Mr Szijjártó told the Hungarian Times: “The name of the fence is ‘Temporary Security Border Fence’ but I think there is no question that in this case temporary means years.
“It’s a self delusion to call this situation a migration crisis; it is a massive migration of nations, with inexhaustible reserves.
“I don’t think that the analysis results, stating that 30-35 million people out there could possibly become migrants, would be an exaggeration.
“Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are all countries with a huge population and an extremely unstable situation.”
As Breitbart London has reported, the Hungarian government has been attacked as ‘xenophobic’ by other EU countries for building fences along its frontiers as well using force against those trying to force their way through with violence.
Work on the new 41-kilometre barrier has begun on Hungary’s border with Croatia and is expected to be finished within seven days. Migrants look to break through to Hungary as that sees them enter the European Union’s Schengen Zone which offers free, unrestricted movement between member countries – at least for now.
Mr Szijjártó said: “The recent international political decisions created an unstable situation around Europe that makes sure that the amount of people won’t decrease. This is why it’s extremely important to protect our borders.
“This issue wasn’t this important until now, so the European Union neglected it a little bit. It became clear that – though its the border of Schengen – Greece couldn’t protect the border of the European Union.”
Croatia has responded to the fence by refusing to stop the flow of migrants crossing its country. Instead it has vowed to expedite their travels with the aim of “forcing” Hungary to take more.
Complaining it was at peak migrant capacity, Croatian prime minister Zoran Milanovic told reporters his country would give them food, water and medical attention and then wave them off on their journey to western and northern Europe.
Some 3,000 entered Hungary by bus and train on Friday. More were expected today as dozens of buses on the Hungarian side of the border lined up in the village of Beremend.
“We forced them, by sending people up there. And we‘ll keep doing it,“ Milanovic told a hastily-convened press conference in the north-eastern town of Beli Manastir, departure point for many of the buses and several trains that left on Friday for the short trip to Hungary.
Hungary government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs responded to Milanovic by pointing out just how many migrants Hungary has been forced to accommodate already.
Croatia collapsed under the pressure in one day;we are standing the flood for the past 9 months. HUN will fully follow EU protocols
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) September 18, 2015
Even as the rhetoric between the neighbouring countries rises, Mr Szijjártó said Hungary will not back down in the face of such a human invasion.
“The Hungarian/Serbian border is another border of Schengen. If we want to follow the orders of Schengen, we have to build a physical obstruction, because this 175 km long area is quite easy to cross.
“The European Union just realised what the Schengen border means.
“If we want to keep the freedom of movement in the European Union, we have to protect the outer borders.”
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
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