Hungary to have 4,300 soldiers at Serbian border by weekend – PHOTOS

Budapest (MTI) – There will be 4,300 soldiers dispatched to serve at Hungary’s southern border from the weekend, the new defence minister said in an interview published by daily Magyar Idok on Saturday.

Their main task will be to participate in building the fence faster, Istvan Simicsko told the paper.

He said the fence, composed of two parallel structures with soldiers helping police in patrols, is expected to be completed by the end of October.

Another task of the soldiers will be to support police forces there who will enforce stricter regulations that will take effect on Sept. 15.

Under legislation adopted earlier this month stricter penalties will apply for human smuggling and damaging the border fence will be a crime.

Asked about the option for soldiers to use firearms if the government goes ahead with plans to declare a status of crisis, Simicsko said that this is only an option if the lives of soldiers or police officers must be protected.

The opposition Socialist Party demanded an explanation from the defence and interior ministries as to “what armed soldiers were doing at the Hungarian-Serbian border”. Tamas Harangozo, the Socialist head of parliament’s defence and law enforcement committee, demanded to know who had authoritised to deploy the soldiers to the border. He also wanted an explanation on why the ministry was unable to “provide for police officers adequately” and what concrete steps were being taken to improve their work conditions. “The Socialists want real answers, not routine sentences, Fidesz style,” Harangozo said in a statement.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters