Hungary to deploy police to Serbian border to combat illegal crossings

Hungary's cabinet has called on the police department to deploy several thousand police officers to Hungary's southern counties where illegal border crossings from Serbia are growing despite construction of a fence to halt it, the chief of the prime minister's office, Janos Lazar, told a news conference on Tuesday.

Well over 120,000 migrants have crossed into Hungary, most across the Serbian border, since the start of the year.

Lazar said the police presence was necessary because the half-finished 177 kilometer fence needs protection against "increasingly aggressive and demanding" migrants, most of whom are fleeing war and terrorism.

He also said the cabinet had asked for a special session of parliament to tighten up immigration laws and introduce felony sanctions for damaging the fence. Lazar said the government had proposed introducing 3 to 4 year prison terms for people cutting through the fence. The government is hoping that parliament meet on this issue before the end of August, he said.

Meanwhile, the left-wing opposition reiterated its opinion that the fence was worthless despite the huge cost of 22 billion forints (about 78 million U. S. dollars).

Bertalan Toth, deputy head of the MSZP (Socialist) Party parliamentary group said his party had called for increased personnel on the border months ago, as well as for stricter sanctions against people-smugglers.