As Rosbalt writes, Europe has probably never seen anything like this since the end of the twentieth century, when after the collapse of the socialist camp, a regime of virtually free movement was established across most of the continent, later enshrined in the Schengen Agreement. Migrants paralyzed the work of Budapest's Keleti railway station. Hungary, admitting its inability to solve the problem, tried to send refugees to Austria, but Austria closed its border to trains from the neighboring country.
Apparently, the current crisis is not only the fault of the migrants themselves. The actions of the Hungarian authorities, one of the least friendly countries toward foreigners in Central Europe, have significantly worsened the situation. Unwilling to accept migrants and lacking the necessary forces and resources, the Hungarian authorities tried to organize an informal transit channel for refugees to much wealthier Austria.
Hungarian police, according to some local internet forums, helped migrants gather in groups and spread rumors about the possibility of freely crossing by train into Austrian territory. Then a mass exodus of refugees began, many of whom did not even have money for tickets. They mostly traveled at night. On the night before the railway blockade imposed by Austria, a record number of migrants—more than 3,500 people—arrived at Vienna's Westbahnhof, according to police. Most, of course, without documents.
In response, the Austrians began organizing raids, removing illegal migrants from trains, and arguing that many of them had already applied for asylum in Hungary, so they had no business in Austria. In this country, it must be said, there is also no desire to take in refugees from Syria, economic migrants from Bangladesh, as well as Libyans, Asians, and black Africans.
By Central European standards, the current Austrian government takes a very tough stance, and some even say it has a racist undertone. Although one can understand Austrians who do not want to take on the burden of hundreds of thousands of migrants without any reason. By the way, in Hungary, an average of about 140,000 illegal migrants are detected per year, and this year a significantly larger influx is expected.
In short, having discovered that several hundred (or even thousands) of migrants were heading to Vienna from Budapest on night trains, the Austrians, despite the Schengen Agreement, simply announced that they would not let these trains cross the border. However, refugees continued to arrive at Budapest's central station. By midday, according to police, several thousand had gathered. Some tried to buy tickets, while others simply began demanding the right to free and unrestricted passage.
The Hungarian law enforcement system was unable to cope with this chaos. Budapest Keleti was closed, and trains began to be redirected to other stations. Meanwhile, Hungarian government spokesman Zoltán Kovács, speaking to journalists, suddenly remembered European Union legislation and stated that, according to EU rules, every traveler must have a valid Schengen visa and a valid passport, while most migrants 'do not meet this requirement.'
Given that Budapest Keleti is Hungary's main international station, all foreign trains came to a standstill. For example, Czech trains heading either to Hungary or through it onward to the Balkans, as well as Austrian, Slovak, and many others. Passengers did not reach their destinations, rail service was interrupted—in short, a scandal. Trains in Hungary already run very poorly, often arriving in neighboring countries with delays of 3-4 hours. But something like this, where all traffic simply stopped, had never happened here before.
Meanwhile, news continued to come in from various Central and Eastern European countries about how they were fighting illegal migrants, as this is a very popular topic in the EU right now. Slovak media reported that in just one night, police detained more than two hundred people on the border with Hungary, including vehicles with refugees from Syria and Iraq. The Czechs announced the detention of another two hundred people thanks to an 'enhanced regime' of police work.
The Germans are also catching illegal migrants. The authorities of Bavaria, in southern Germany, have even introduced official police checks on the border with Austria.
However, all these emergency measures do not solve the main problem—the flow of migrants does not subside. The leaders of France and Germany are organizing a pan-European summit on this issue. But it will only take place in the middle of the month.
So migrants have time to 'occupy' new European countries, following Hungary. Similar events are possible in almost any country where the law enforcement system, instead of working according to the law, tries to 'push' illegal migrants toward neighbors, and politicians prefer to make populist statements instead of finding ways to solve the problem, even if they are unpopular with voters.
As long as such countries exist within the European Union, it remains vulnerable. Because for many countries, completely closing borders is practically impossible. For example, France cannot isolate itself from Belgium, where thousands of its citizens live due to a more favorable tax regime. Hungary finds it difficult to separate itself from Serbian regions, where local compatriots have long been issued Hungarian passports. Germany cannot close its border with the Czech Republic, on whose roads dozens of German buses and motorists travel daily on the shortest route from Berlin to Nuremberg and Munich.
So Europeans simply do not have the opportunity to make simple decisions. They face reforming migration policy, creating a proper model where the visa system will not (as it does today) stimulate an increase in the number of illegal migrants.
Of course, this is if European politicians prove to be responsible and prudent. Otherwise, the influx of migrants will become the first problem that the European Union will be unable to solve. Even despite the fact that the real importance of this challenge is exaggerated in the media, it is from this that the very process of the disintegration of the European Union may begin, which is so often predicted by the ill-wishers of a united Europe.