“Ultimately we Bavarians should be thankful that the Hungarians are helping to protect the southern borders of Bavaria”, said Mechthilde Wittmann, a lawyer and CSU politician.
The three-phase operation, launched at the end of June, includes the use of military force against migrant traffickers, the seizure of vessels used to transport people across the Mediterranean Sea, majority departing from the coast of Libya, as well as disposal of vessels and related assets, preferably before use, and also the apprehension of traffickers and smugglers.
“We are ready to forget everything”, Orban told a news conference at his country’s embassy in Vienna after a closed-door meeting with Faymann.
The surge happened after Hungary, the northern neighbor of both countries, closed its green border with Serbia with a metal fence.
Police said 8,104 migrants entered Hungary on Thursday, almost all crossing from Croatia.
Migrants make their way towards the railway station in Zakany, 230 kms southwest of Budapest, Hungary, after they crossing the Croatian-Hungarian green border, Thursday, September 24, 2015.
Nearly 200 Croatian companies trade in Serbia – including all of its major supermarket chains.
At present, migrants are entering Hungary from Croatia via official border crossing points.
Hungary’s prime minister says he will hold consultations with other countries in the region and with the United Nations before making a decision about closing the border with Croatia for migrants.
European Union leaders agreed at their summit early Thursday to boost aid for Syria’s neighbours – home to millions of refugees fleeing years of civil war and the ravages of Islamic State extremists – to stop them coming to Europe.
Merkel said her Cabinet plans to approve the measures on Tuesday and they will probably take effect November 1 after parliamentary approval.
Seeking to reassure state governors, whom she is meeting with later in the day, Merkel said Germany can meet the challenges. “But they are all necessary steps in the right direction”.
But Dr Merkel not only refused to apologise for Germany’s conduct at this week’s summit; she continued to demand that it remains the duty of other nations to police the EU’s outer frontiers, while at the same time criticising the East Europeans for not showing compassion to refugees. It is angry that Serbia is busing refugees to its border, rather than sending them north to Hungary.
The relocations are just a fraction of the 500,000 migrants who have come to Europe’s shores so far this year and the estimated four million camped on Syria’s borders.
The flood will continue, Orban said, adding that the main question was how it could be stopped on the Croatian border.
The Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn arrived to the border zone Friday together with Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.
Politically, Germany is likely to benefit from the refugee crisis: after its reputation suffered due to the hard stance the German government took during the negotiations with Greece, the refugee crisis provides a welcome opportunity for Germany to show its “friendly face”, and further establish itself as a soft power and moral authority.