We cannot exist without strong borders

The Center for Fundamental Rights and the America First Policy Institute are jointly calling for a halt to the current, modern-day wave of migration.

202200727 magyar szerb hatar migransok havran zoltan magyar nemzet Fotó: Havran Zoltán

A healthy immune response of the public to this dangerous phenomenon is hampered by a number of factors, including a mainstream liberal press and a political culture that ignores the serious crises directly caused by the immigration of masses of people from foreign cultures, often incompatible with our own, or conceals the actual causes of these crises. Good examples are the wave of violence that has recently swept through France and the growing anti-Semitism in Western Europe.

Hungary and other countries that want to curb mass migration face serious obstacles when confronted with the neoliberal approach of the EU institutions, which see economic migration as a "universal human right". The federalist movement in Brussels is also trying to use immigration to weaken the position of conservatives in national elections. And the accusation of "xenophobia" is used as a political club to browbeat member states that resist efforts to create a "United States of Europe".

Despite this, Hungary has successfully resisted all previous waves of migration, and AFPI was eager to find out how it has managed to do so despite strong political headwinds. One of the key findings of the study is that strong borders work and are capable of posing a barrier to migration. Hungary, faced with the sudden onset of the migration crisis in 2015, decided to build a multi-faceted, high-tech equipment reinforced fence system to allow for continuous surveillance and a coordinated response by border guards. As a result, illegal border crossings have been reduced to a fraction of their previous levels as soon as the border barrier was activated.

At the same time, it also turned out that the physical border protection infrastructure alone is not sufficient. In Hungary, the package of measures known as the "legal border closure" - a set of laws that authorize the national authorities, the police and immigration officials to act quickly and decisively - also played a prominent role in alleviating migration pressure. Formally declaring the situation caused by mass migration a crisis situation allowed the Hungarian government and the Parliament to rev up the strategic decision-making process. Keeping asylum seekers abroad while their application was being assessed was also an important tool.

Patient and at times highly sophisticated Hungarian diplomacy was also a key factor in managing to fend off intensifying pressure from the Soros network and the Brussels federalists. Through clear and consistent communication, Budapest has persuaded its southern neighbors to see efforts to stop migration at the border not as an attempt to undermine their security, but as a means to promote common interests. These countries have since become allies in the fight against mass migration. 

But Hungary's singular successes in and of themselves cannot save Europe. A paradigm shift is needed on the continent, and this requires a political turnaround, as the EU's institutions and bureaucrats are major contributors to the crisis. Conservative, sovereignist parties need to launch an effective, coordinated campaign in the next European elections in order to win at least a blocking minority in both the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. In the meantime, a cross-border coalition of conservative civil society must be organised and pressure must be brought to bear on the EU institutions regarding border protection.

The author is a geopolitical analyst at the Center for Fundamental Rights

Cover photo: Illegal migration (Photo: Zoltan Havran)