Authorities from Visegrad-countries are providing logistical, technical help to Hungarian police, Péter Törcsi of Centre for Fundamental Rights told Magyar Hírlap.
”The agreement of Visegrad-countries on joint protection of the Hungarian and the Schengen borders is mostly symbolical, it's a message to the European Union that Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic are convinced that we can stop the migration flow first of all by securing the Schengen borders”, research director of Centre for Fundamental Rights, Péter Törcsi told Magyar Hírlap. Reacting to constitutional concerns of NGO's he pointed out that the status of foreign soldiers in Hungary is quite similar to observers', they can't act. This is a technical, logistical form of V4-cooperation according to Törcsi. ”Of course there's no cure for those who really want to misunderstand this” he remarked, noting that international agreements make such cooperation possible, like when German policemen help at the Lake Balaton during summer.
A recent report by Amnesty International suggested that Hungary can only handle the migration crisis on the expense of its international human rights and refugee rights obligations. ”There is a huge difference between the criticism of Amnesty International and the actual truth, and the reason for it is the misinterpretation of Hungarian law and lack of proper knowledge of internatlonal law”, Törcsi said. He emphasised that the point of the new laws is to stop illegal border crossing and this is fully in line with the Geneva convention. According to the convention only those can't be criminalised who come directly from a country where their life is in danger and the first thing they do is to go to the authorities. Törcsi pointed out that no prosecution awaits those who come to Hungary at the designated areas, even if they have no papers. Everyone can apply for asylum, even those who commit a crime when entering Hungary by damaging the fence, he added.
