The Hungarian government has decided on beginning preparations for the construction of a new border fence on Hungary’s frontier with Romania as a continuation of the already finished anti-immigration barrier on the Serbian border, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs told a press conference on Tuesday.

Péter Szijjártó argued that the fence, to be constructed on a “sensible” stretch of the border between Hungary and Romania, is necessary because the already completed fence on the Hungarian-Serbian border could cause people smugglers to change trafficking routes, meaning migratory pressure on the country could be diverted towards the country’s eastern neighbour.

Land works enabling the future construction of a safety fence will be begun on Hungarian territory, four metres from the border, Mr. Szijjártó said, adding that the Romanian cabinet has already been informed on the decision. Preparatory works will be begun from the meeting point of the Hungarian-Serbian-Romanian borders until the river Maros (Mureş in Romanian) and a further few kilometres, the minister said. “From Tuesday, both physical and legal necessities are in place to enable the protection of Hungary’s external Schengen border”, the foreign minister insisted.

Speaking on the television station ATV yesterday evening, Mr. Szijjártó also said that the government will also “consider” the construction of a fence on the Croatian border if this becomes necessary. However, the closure of the border between Hungary and Croatia is “not so well-founded” at present, he said.

The announcement comes as Hungarian immigration authorities registered a dramatic drop in the number of migrants caught illegally crossing the country’s border with Serbia on the first day the country’s new hard-line immigration laws took effect and the completion of the border fence sealing off illegal access from Hungary’s southern neighbour.

On Tuesday, 15 September, a total of 367 individuals were caught across the country for crossing the border illegally, according to a police statement issed on Wednesday morning – down from the spectacular record of 9380 migrants crossing the border on Monday, the last day before the new laws took effect.

via hvg.hu and mandiner.hu

photo: Sándor Ujvári/MTI