Hungary arrests 174 as new anti-migrant laws bite

The new laws are part of PM Viktor Orban's strategy to stem the flow of migrants

Hungarian police today arrested 174 people after harsh new laws came into force which punish "illegal border-crossing" with prison terms of several years, authorities said.

Under the new legislation, which came into effect at midnight (2200 GMT yesterday), police arrested 60 people for "cutting or damaging" a razorwire barrier along the Serbian border.

Another 114 people were arrested throughout the day, and officials immediately began criminal proceedings.

"Police have launched criminal procedures against them," Gyorgy Bakondi, chief adviser to Prime Minister Viktor Orban, told a news conference.

The new laws are part of Orban's strategy to stem the flow of migrants -- more than 200,000 so far this year -- who cross Greece then the western Balkans before reaching Hungary on their way to western Europe.

The changes mean that crossing the border illegally can result in a prison term of up to three years, rising to five years if people damage the razorwire or a more substantial four-metre-high barrier which is still under construction.

Budapest today effectively sealed off its southern border with Serbia, blocking a gap in a razorwire barrier where many of the migrants passed through, as well as closing two official crossing points.

"The number of illegal border-crossers has already reduced significantly," government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs told reporters at the same news conference.

Hungary is also planning another anti-migrant fence along along part of its border with Romania, a minister said today.

Hungarian police officers open a door to a container where migrants are registered as they enter Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia

  "The measure is necessary as people-smugglers may change their routes because of the existing fence on the Hungary-Serbia border, hence a part of the immigration pressure may get directed towards Romania," said Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto

Hungary, a member of the European Union and the passport-free Schengen zone, has been sharply criticised over the fence it is building along the Serbian frontier, and today, Romania denounced the new construction plans as "out of step with the spirit of Europe."

Romania is in the EU but not in Schengen, while Serbia is in neither.

"We don't want to turn the country into a fortress but we want to protect our borders," Kovacs said.