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Budapest station reopens but no trains running to western Europe Budapest station reopens but no trains running to western Europe
(about 3 hours later)
Hungarian police have ended their blockade of Budapest’s main train station, prompting more than 1,000 people hoping to travel to western Europe to rush into the terminal. About 1,000 people hoping to travel to western Europe have crammed on to a train at Budapest’s Keleti station after a two-day Hungarian police blockade of the station’s entrances ended.
However, the rail company said there were no trains running to western Europe due to “railway transport” security reasons. After repeated announcements that the train would not be departing, most of the passengers – prospective migrants and refugees – alighted but remained on the platform.
Police partially shut down the Keleti terminal on Tuesday, preventing those with valid tickets but no travel documents from boarding trains to Austria and Germany, the preferred destination of many of those hoping to travel. Public address announcements in Hungarian and English told the passengers that services to western Europe had been suspended from Keleti station “indefinitely”.
There was no immediate explanation from police or other authorities of Thursday’s decisions, which came hours before the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, was to meet European Union leaders in Brussels to discuss the growing humanitarian crisis. About 30 police officers arrived and lined up along an adjacent platform, spaced a few metres apart. People were still hanging out of the doors of the stationary train despite being told to get off.
On Wednesday, the people camped outside Budapest station had threatened to walk the 105 miles (170km) to the Austrian border if police would not let them board trains to their desired destinations in Austria and Germany. There were bewildered and exhausted-looking families with young children, many of whom have been camped out for days in a makeshift refugee camp below the station. People were carrying luggage and fathers carried young children on their shoulders.
One would-be passenger, Waleed, 40, from Syria, said: “I have been travelling for 24 days. I paid 200,000 Syrian pounds to leave Syria. Why? Because I escaped from war, bombs, bullets. Why is there no train?”
A statement from Hungarian Railways (MAV) said: “In the interests of rail travel security the company has decided that until further notice, direct train services from Budapest to western Europe will not be in service.”
An MAV spokesman told state news agency MTI that “passengers wanting to travel to western Europe can only take trains leaving from the northern and western borders and with an external rail company”.
Police officers who remained at Keleti station expressed uncertainty over what would happen next. In answer to the question: “Does admitting migrants into the station mean that the train will depart soon, or are the police also unclear what to do in the coming hours?”, a police officer replied: “The second part of the sentence is correct.”
Keleti has become the focus of the migration crisis in Europe, as an estimated 3,000 people, mainly Syrian refugees, are camping in the underpass area in front of the station. Conditions have grown increasingly squalid despite the efforts of volunteers distributing water, food, medicine and disinfectants.
Hungary initially opened the way on Monday, allowing more than 1,000 people to pack westbound trains before it withdrew the option 24 hours later.Hungary initially opened the way on Monday, allowing more than 1,000 people to pack westbound trains before it withdrew the option 24 hours later.
On Wednesday, the people camped outside Budapest station had threatened to walk the 105 miles (170km) to the Austrian border if police would not let them board trains to their desired destinations in Austria and Germany.
Hungary, which for months had permitted most applicants to head west after short bureaucratic delays, now says it won’t let more groups deeper into the European Union and claims EU backing for the move.Hungary, which for months had permitted most applicants to head west after short bureaucratic delays, now says it won’t let more groups deeper into the European Union and claims EU backing for the move.
With an estimated 3,000 people camping outside the station, conditions have grown increasingly squalid despite the efforts of volunteers distributing water, food, medicine and disinfectants. There was no immediate explanation from police or other authorities of Thursday’s decisions, which came hours before the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, was to meet European Union leaders in Brussels to discuss the growing humanitarian crisis.
Hungary announced this week that it would deploy troops to its southern border with Serbia from 15 September. A €100m, four-metre-high razor wire fence has failed to stem the flow of migrants: 2,061 were apprehended at the border on Wednesday.
János Lázár, who heads Orbán’s office, has asked the German embassy in Budapest to help “unambiguously in clarifying which European legislation the German government regards as applicable in this situation, what legal procedures illegal migrants should expect if they wish to enter Germany, and what they can expect after such procedures”.
The German embassy should also “urgently provide information onsite to illegal migrants currently occupying public areas at Budapest’s Keleti railway station,” Lázár’s statement on Wednesday evening added.
Orbán told Germany’s FAZ that “Schengen [which enables passport-free travel between 26 European countries] only works if individual member states fulfil their obligations under the Schengen agreement. If we cannot protect our external borders, Schengen will be in danger. This cannot be wanted by anyone who seeks to defend Europe and who values the concept of Europe.”
“Let us not forget, however, that those arriving have been raised in another religion, and represent a radically different culture. Most of them are not Christians, but Muslims. This is an important question, because Europe and European identity is rooted in Christianity. If we lose sight of this, the idea of Europe could become a minority interest in its own continent,” Orbán added.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian authorities have detained 125 foreigners in the capital, Sofia, for illegally crossing into the country without submitting an asylum request, the interior ministry said on Thursday. Georgi Kostov, secretary general of the interior ministry, said they would be questioned and their applications might be granted.Meanwhile, Bulgarian authorities have detained 125 foreigners in the capital, Sofia, for illegally crossing into the country without submitting an asylum request, the interior ministry said on Thursday. Georgi Kostov, secretary general of the interior ministry, said they would be questioned and their applications might be granted.