Hungarian soldiers began work on a 175-meter test section at Morahalom, 184 kilometers south of Budapest, regional news website delmagyar.hu said, citing a reporter on the scene. Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs, reached by phone, said he'll have details later on Monday. The government plans to have a fence spanning the entire 175-kilometer Hungarian-Serb border.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban's cabinet has drawn criticism from the United Nations and neighboring countries for plans to seal the country's border with Serbia and for fanning xenophobia with a billboard campaign against immigration. European Union leaders have been divided on how to tackle the wave of migration caused by Syria's civil war, Libya's disintegration and turmoil in northern Africa.
Hungary, which has registered more than 56,000 asylum requests this year, serves as an entry point to the EU's passport-free Schengen zone for immigrants who predominantly plan to settle in western Europe and often arrive via the Balkans. The cabinet, which also advocates rejecting "economic" migrants, estimates the number of illegal entries to Hungary will reach as many as 130,000 by the year-end.
Last week, Hungary's parliament approved a law giving Greece and Serbia safe-country status in terms of immigration, allowing authorities to refuse admission at the border to migrants who passed through those states on their way to Hungary.
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