“If there were no fence, tens of thousands of migrants would be arriving in Hungary each year”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared following a visit to Tompa, on the Hungarian-Serbian border, on Friday.
In a video uploaded to his Facebook page, the Prime Minister reminded people “what a flood had rushed into Hungary without any chance of being hindered or stopped”. “It was a bad feeling to see our homeland so vulnerable, but then we built the fence, which I viewed today, and I have seen with my very own eyes that it is a formidable structure that any country in the world could be jealous of”, he declared, adding: “The fence is capable of protecting Hungary even without physical violence”.
Mr. Orbán said he had listened to police leaders and spoken to police officers on duty at the border. According to their figures, had there been no fence in 2017, more than 44 thousand people would have crossed into the territory of Hungary and Europe illegally, the Prime Minister said.
“This fence not only protects Hungary, but all of Europe”, he highlighted. “We built it, we paid for it, and we expect Europe to pay the costs of this to at least the extent to which it is also protecting them”, he stated.
The Prime Minister said he was returning to Budapest with a feeling of satisfaction, because in his view there is order on the border and not only is the physical border barrier working, but the police officers and soldiers on duty there are also excellently trained, prepared and dutiful.