</s>The government has decided to extend by six months the current state of emergency in Hungary in connection with “the crisis caused by mass migration”, the government spokesman said. The state of emergency will apply until March 7 next year. “It has been proven that mass immigration has heightened the threat of terrorism in Europe, and continued strict control of Hungary’s border is necessary to ensure the security of Hungarian people,” Zoltán Kovács insisted.

On another subject, Kovács said the government had assessed the latest developments in a European procedure against Poland on constitutional grounds, and assumed the standpoint that “Poland has fallen victim to double standards” applied by the European Commission. He criticised the commission for “not judging members of the community equally”, and called on the body to be a “guardian of agreements” and “leave politics alone”.</s>BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The Hungarian government has decided to extend by six months, until March 2018, the state of emergency declared early last year because of the migrant crisis.

Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said Wednesday that strict border controls were still needed because the “threat of terrorism in Europe has increased” recently.

Hungary’s razor-wire fences, built on its borders with Serbia and Croatia in late 2015, have practically stopped the flow of migrants through the country.

Human rights groups and international organizations have repeatedly called attention to the alleged violent treatment of migrants by police, as well the poor conditions in border transit zones where asylum-seekers are made to await a decision on their applications.

About 400,000 migrants passed through Hungary in 2015 before the fences were erected.</s>The government has prolonged the state of crisis by six months until March 8, 2018 at the recommendation of the Minister of Interior, according to government spokesman Zoltán Kovács.

The Hungarian state news agency (MTI) reports that Kovács said Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér proposed last week that the government should extend the state of crisis, due to expire on September 7. Kovács stressed the terror threat in Europe had increased as a result of mass migration, and that for this reason strict monitoring of the borders is still required for the safety of the Hungarian people.

The Beacon contacted the Ministry of Interior to request exact statistics about illegal border crossings during the state of crisis to determine whether the extension is warranted. According to the Ministry of Interior’s surprisingly swift answer, since mid-September, 2015 some 209,713 illegal border crossers were apprehended, 14,287 were detained and escorted back to the border, and 40,411 were repelled. (It is not clear what the Ministry meant by “repelled”, megakadályozás in Hungarian, but the Beacon has requested more specific definitions of these terms.)

But broken down year by year, the data paints a very different picture of migration trends through Hungary.

During the peak of the migration crisis – between September 18 and December 31, 2015 – some 189,417 people crossed the border illegally and were apprehended by authorities. In 2016, when the border fence was already standing on Hungary’s southern border blocking the Balkan migration route, the total number of illegal border crossers shrank to 19,222. This year, as of August 29, only 1,074 illegal border crossers were apprehended by authorities. The number of detentions and those repelled at the border also decreased dramatically this year compared to the previous years.

In answer to another of our questions, the Ministry of Interior revealed that since September 15, 2015, the Immigration and Asylum Office registered 37,237 applications for asylum, out of which 1,247 were accepted.

We also asked the Ministry of Interior how many times it had learned of a planned terrorist act directly threatening Hungary. The ministry’s answer is telling: “Since the initiation of the state of crisis, the Counter Terrorism Centre (TEK) has not learned of any information indicating an act of terror threatening Hungarian citizens or Hungary. Europe’s terror threat is well-known.”

“Since the initiation of the state of crisis, the Counter Terrorism Centre (TEK) has not learned of any information indicating an act of terror threatening Hungarian citizens or Hungary. Europe’s terror threat is well-known.”
The Government of Hungary has decided to extend the state of emergency declared last year because of the increased migration to and through the country. Government spokesman Zoltán Kovács stated that strict border controls were still needed because the "threat of terrorism in Europe has increased".