Hungary: Ultra-right mayor proposes fence against migrants

The Hungarian border with Serbia needs a fence to keep out the growing number of refugees heading into the country. That is the opinion of László Toroczkai. mayor of the southern Hungarian village of Ásotthalom and a member of the radical Jobbik party.  

Reportedly immigrants from Kosovo are those who head to the region most, from where they then do their best to reach Germany and other countries of Western Europe. According to Toroczkai, who is infamous for his right-wing extremist posturing, Hungary should use EU funds to build a fence and protect the border.

Such a fence just around his own village would measure about 20 kilometers. The border between Hungary and Serbia is 151 kilometers total.

"That border is not guarded at all," the mayor told the Associated Press. "Those immigrants could include criminals or terrorists, it’s a threat to Western Europe."

The mayor claims that thousands of people from non-EU countries arrive in his village on a daily basis. Most asylum-seekers are taken away to the nearby town of Szeged.

The Hungarian authorities say they have received almost 13 000 asylum requests already this year. A total of 43 000 asylum requests were filed there last year.