The spokesman for the Hungarian government has defended his country's approach to the migration crisis that earlier this week saw refugees tear gassed.
Zoltan Kovacs told Sky News all Hungary is trying to do is ensure order and "protocol" amid a huge influx of people from outside the EU.
He also attacked Croatia for effectively taking part in people trafficking by taking refugees across its territory without processing them.
He told Sky's Murnaghan programme: "Croatia, organised by the state authorities, is participating in carrying these migrants to the Hungarian border.
"We are trying to maintain discipline and maintain protocols, so at least, to register these people, but under these circumstances and indeed in this mood, it’s extremely difficult.
"We are trying to restore law and order at the border. You've seen at the border with Serbia ... there are limits to this order. "
On Thursday, Hungarian police fired tear gas after hundreds of migrants broke through its razor wire fence on the border with Serbia.
Since Hungary closed its border with Serbia, thousands of migrants, many refugees from war torn Syria, have sought an alternative route through to northern Europe via Croatia.
But Mr Kovacs said Croatia's approach, which has been to load the migrants on to train and buses and to take them to the Hungarian border, has been wrong.
He said it will result in Hungary building a fence - similar to that it built on its border with Serbia - along its frontier with Croatia.
"Croatia not just letting down not only Hungary, but the European Union," he said.
He added that all Hungary was attempting to do was to follow international rules and to make sure only people who had a right to come in are able to do so.
On Saturday, Croatia admitted it has "forced" Hungary to accept migrants by sending buses and trains to the border – and the country's Prime Minister has vowed this will continue.
The comments come as 18,000 migrants and refugees were expected to arrive in Austria from neighbouring countries this weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment