In early 2015 Local Mayor of
Ásotthalom László Toroczkai had an idea to have a border fence built along the southern border of
Hungary, in order to stop illegal migration, which was later implemented as the Hungarian border barrier the same year by the Hungarian government. The border between Hungary and Serbia is long. Construction of the barrier began in early July. , Hungary was on track to complete the fence by the end of the year. The fence, which features
concertina wire, is being built by contractors and a deployment of 900 soldiers at a cost of 30 billion forints ($106 million) for the 4-metre (13-foot) fence and the construction of two camps to house asylum applicants. The slow pace of the fence's construction led to the resignation of
Csaba Hende, the Hungarian defence minister, on 7 September 2015. The first stage of construction was started on 13 July and it was completed and the border sealed by Monday, 14 September. The immediate impact of the fence was to block entry to Hungary to migrants unwilling to apply for
refugee status in Hungary, deflecting the flow to Croatia. As Croatia led the migrants to its border with Hungary, Hungary then started the construction of a second fence along its border with Croatia on 18 September 2015. On 16 September 2015, migrants prevented by the new fence from crossing the border near
Horgoš,
Serbia, and
Röszke, reacted by surging forward and pushing or tearing away a section of the new fence. Hungarian riot police responded with tear gas, causing the migrants to fall back, then regroup and surge forward again, only to be met by another round of tear gas canisters and with water cannon. At this point, some of the migrants began tearing apart a decayed structure, to obtain chunks of concrete which, along with
rocks were hurled at police as other rioters built debris fires, filling the air with smoke. The riot subsided as word spread the Hungarian police had opened a nearby gate, but as 200 or 300 migrants walked through the newly opened gate, Hungarian police "surged forward", swinging batons and firing tear gas into the crowd of migrants. Hungary was widely criticized for its use of tear gas and water cannon against migrants attempting to enter the country. Hungary commented the border security: "the official and legal ways to come to Hungary and therefore to the European Union remain open. That's all we ask from all migrants - that they should comply with international and European law". In April 2016, Hungarian government announced construction of reinforcements of the barrier, which it described as "temporary". In July 2016, nearly 1,300 migrants were "stuck" on the Serbian side of the border. In August 2016, Orbán announced that Hungary would build another larger barrier on its southern border. On 28 April 2017, the Hungarian government announced it had completed a second fence, long, on the Serbian border. Funding of the construction of the Hungary-Serbia border fence and border hunters project has increased tension between Hungary and the
other EU member states. In 2015, Hungary and Slovakia asked the Court of Justice of the European Union to annul the EU decision to relocate migrants. Although the opinions of the Court's Advocate Generals are not binding on the European Court of Justice, on 26 July 2017, the assigned Advocate General expressed the view that the Hungary and Slovakia claims should be dismissed. About a month after the Advocate General released his opinion, Hungary asked the European Commission to pay up. On 31 August 2017, the Hungarian government requested that the European Union refund half of the border barrier costs (€400 million). This request was denied by the President of the European Commission on 5 September 2017. The Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed Hungary and Slovakia's claims in a judgment dated 6 September 2017. ==Croatian border==