Photo by Tamas Soki/EPA
Hungarian police fired tear gas and water cannon at protesting migrants demanding they be allowed to enter from Serbia on Wednesday as a border crackdown by Budapest turned violent.Thick black smoke billowed over the area as mainly young male migrants broke up stones and concrete on the road and lobbed them at lines of riot police.Police, backed by special anti-terrorist units, responded with water cannon and tear gas from the other side of a metal barrier rolled out across the road at the Roszke-Horgos border crossing.Hungary's right-wing government has built a metal fence all along the frontier with Serbia to keep them out, under a crackdown launched on Tuesday that has seen asylum seekers rejected within hours of entering no-man's land.Hungarian police accused "aggressive" migrants of trying to breach the border fence.
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Hungary has informed Serbia it has ordered a 30-day suspension of the Roszke-Horgos border crossing between the two countries, Serbia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, after clashes erupted between migrants and police in the area.Hungary also urged Serbia on Wednesday to act against migrants "attacking" Hungarian police on their border.
"A group of very aggressive migrants is persistently attacking Hungarian police with rocks and pieces of concrete," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told public television by phone."This attack is coming from Serbia, Serbian territory. Therefore, I firmly asked my Serbian colleague to call on Serbian authorities to act immediately against this aggressive group of migrants."This little refugee kid crying after Hungary police use tear gas& water canons 2 disperse migrants on Serbia border — gultuysuz (@gultuysuz)September 16, 2015
PHOTO: Fires burning at Hungary-Serbia border, scene of clashes between refugees and police. — Conflict News (@Conflicts)September 16, 2015
This footage shows Hungarian authorities rushing to the border gates, after rioting refugees attempted to break through them.