Faced with a
\nmassive influx of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa, Hungary plans
\nto extend its fence along the Serbian border eastwards towards neighbouring
\nRomania. This is how the Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto explained
\nhis country’s decision:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We have made the decision to start
\npreparatory works for the construction of a fence starting from the
\nHungarian-Serbian-Romanian border at a reasonable length should migration
\npressure shift in the direction of Romania. Given our good relations and in
\nkeeping with diplomatic norms, we have informed the Romanian side, more
\nprecisely the state secretary for European integration, of our intentions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The foreign ministry in Bucharest, however,
\nhas described as politically incorrect Hungary’s plans to build a fence on the
\ncommon border between two European Union member states and strategic partners.
\nThe ministry says these plans run counter to the European spirit, while prime
\nminister Victor Ponta says Budapest’s decision to build a fence along its
\nborders will not solve the problem and takes Hungary out of Europe. He also
\nsaid Hungary treats the refugees using clubs and serial numbers. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Hungarian foreign minister harshly
\ncriticised Ponta’s comments, describing them as extremist and false. For his
\npart, Ponta said he would not respond to the provocations made by some of the
\nrepresentatives of the Hungarian government, but said, however, that the
\nbehaviour of some of them is not in line with European Union values and is no
\nbetter than that of decision makers in Syria, Libya and other countries that
\nrefugees are fleeing. The Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto
\naccused Victor Ponta of losing control
\nand offending Hungary with his irrational statements. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In the meantime, the refugee crisis deepens.
\nEU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday failed to reach an agreement
\nover the fair distribution of the 120,000 refugees and will meet again next
\nTuesday in a new attempt to find consensus. Romania said it was ready to
\nreceive more than the 1,705 people it initially agreed to take in, plus another
\n80 people from outside the European Union. Alongside nine other EU states,
\nRomania is opposed to the introduction of obligatory refugee quotas. <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Relations between Romania and Hungary tighten as Hungary decides to extend its fence along the Serbian border towards Romania to stem the flow of migrants and Romanias prime minister Victor Ponta criticises Hungarys handling of the refugee crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[29263,29085,29207,29184],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-65190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-fence","tag-hungary","tag-migration","tag-victor-ponta"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n