Hungary Closing Borders Stirs EU Anger
By Stefan J. Bos reporting from Budapest
(Worthy News) – Hungary’s fiercely anti-migration government has closed its borders to most foreigners, citing an increase in coronavirus cases, prompting an angry reaction from the European Union’s executive.
The EU’s European Commission warned Hungary not to discriminate against European citizens. It expressed concern that tourists from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland could still enter Hungary, while people of different backgrounds were not allowed to enter.
The three countries and Hungary cooperate in their Visegrad Group, seen as East Europe’s equivalent of the Benelux formed by Belgium and The Netherlands
“Today [Justice Commissioner] Didier Reynders and I are sending a letter to the Hungarian Government, recalling the importance of the integrity of the [passport-free] Schengen area. And of applying border measures in a non-discriminatory way to all EU citizens and residents,” the executive’s home affairs chief, Ylva Johyansson, said on social media site Twitter.
“Any measures that do not comply with those fundamental principles of EU law should, of course, be immediately retracted,” added Johansson.
RED NATIONS
The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said the border closure was needed as the rest of Europe “turns red,” referring to a traffic light system used to track COVID 19.
Hungary was still the less risky color green on the map and wants to keep it this way, suggested Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Hungarians returning from abroad will have to self-quarantine for 14 days, or until they produce two negative tests taken two days apart, he added. “The measures are designed to ward off infections from abroad.”
Critics say the measures are another way for Orban to promote his harsh migration policy.
Hungary has so far reported over 6,000 coronavirus cases and over 600 related death on a population of roughly 10 million.
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