Immigration emergency to be extended
September 6th, 2019A left-wing columnist finds it unnecessary to prolong the state of emergency introduced during the 2015 migration crisis. Commenting on the indictment of a suspected ISIS terrorist arrested in Hungary, a pro-government pundit thinks that Europe is still threatened by terrorists who came in 2015 with the big migrant wave.
Népszava’s Róbert Friss castigates the government for proposing the extension of the special state of emergency introduced in 2015 as a response to the migrant crisis. The left-wing columnist recalls that the number of undocumented migrants has plummeted since the erection of the fence on Hungary’s southern border. Friss thinks that the government is using the state of emergency to manipulate the public and mobilize its base through sustaining anti-immigrant sentiments. Friss also lambasts leader of the Democratic Coalition Ferenc Gyurcsány for saying that he would not pull down the border fence. In Friss’s opinion, there is no reason to keep Hungary’s borders sealed, and the opposition parties should demand the fence be removed immediately. In a passing remark, Friss mentions that the government may use the state of emergency to deploy the army, constrain media freedom and seize public or private property if it is deemed necessary in order to preserve public security. Without explicitly suggesting this, Friss hints that the government may do so if the opposition becomes too strong in the municipal elections in mid-October.
In Magyar Nemzet, László János Szemán claims that during the migration crisis, Europe was infiltrated by thousands of terrorists. The pro-government columnist recalls that Hassan Farhud, a Syrian national arrested in Hungary last December (on arrival at Budapest airport with false papers) is charged with carrying out multiple murders and terrorist acts as a mid-ranking Islamic State commander. Szemán adds that some of the terrorists responsible for carrying out the Paris and Brussels massacres arrived with the 2015 migrant wave.
Tags: border fence, emergency, migration