CFR Daily News Brief 9/17 Hungary Cracks Down on Migrants

September 17, 2015 Daily News Brief

TOP OF THE AGENDA Hungary Cracks Down on Migrants Clashes between migrants and Hungarian authorities escalated as riot police fired (Al Jazeera) tear gas and used water cannons to repel migrants seeking entry along the Serbian border. Twenty-nine people were detained following the clashes, authorities said. The UN and rights groups condemned (Reuters) Hungary's actions. As construction continues on a border fence along the Hungary-Serbia border, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban signaled plans (Deutsch Welle) to erect another fence along the Croatian border. Meanwhile, more than five thousand migrants surged (AP) into Croatia, and the head of Germany's migration and refugee authority resigned (FT) on Thursday, citing personal reasons.

ANALYSIS "Tougher steps may be needed to stop Mr. Orban from imposing his agenda of intolerance. Austrian and German officials have suggested that generous E.U. subsidies to Hungary should be reconsidered; the union also has the option of suspending Budapest’s voting rights. One way or another, the European Union must make clear its rejection of Mr. Orban’s repellent policies," writes the Washington Post. "The EU’s ability to respond to the migrant crisis (as with the euro crisis before it) has been crippled by the temptation national leaders face to score political points at home by playing up their conflicts with Brussels, or with each other. The prime ministers of Hungary and Romania both profited on Tuesday from a largely imaginary slap fight over a border fence that will probably never be built. Meanwhile, along the route from Greece to Serbia, hundreds of thousands of migrants are trapped in increasingly desperate circumstances, and the EU cannot reach agreement on how to cope with them," writes the Economist. "The problem is that it's great to offer humanitarian assistance to those people, but they are not being accorded the opportunity to establish livelihoods to get on with their lives, to actually find jobs. And that’s one reason why they are striking out for Europe, because they don't see any prospect of getting back into Syria anytime soon. And, frankly, they are not being integrated or assimilated. One of the reasons is that they don't have enough development assistance in those countries to help them make that transition," says CFR's Stewart Patrick in a Media Call. Hungary fires tear gas, water cannon at refugees Hungarian police say refugees threw stones, bottles and sticks at officers and crossed barrier at border.