Fence designed at the Serbian-Hungarian border can fail due to animals

According to hvg.hu, the border designed at the Serbian-Hungarian border would hinder the free movement of wildlife and it would cut asunder protected habitats. It would also mean the end of the Serbian-Hungarian cooperation of decades – environmental protection experts said. Referring to that, the European Union can intervene, which has licensing and inspection jurisdiction over the Natura 2000 areas, because those areas are parts of that area.

The experts say the construction of the fence would seriously harm the natural habitat of wild animals and plants, especially in the area administrated by the Kiskunsag National Park.

The 5-km-long border is protected by Natura 2000  next to Asotthalom and Kelebia, where currently the most migrants – 100-200 people a day – are trying to get through the border.  According to an expert familiar with the area, the migrants’ impact on the environment was negligible so far, but the government would bisect small-number and protected populations with the fence, and the movement of the big animals would also be impossible, hvg.hu said.

On behalf of the involved national parks, the Csongrad County Government Office press service answered hvg.hu. They said there haven’t been discussions so far, but the preparation of the construction has started. In their view, big animals are not common in the area, and the fence wouldn’t cause problems for the smaller ones. According to them, there is no marking animal in the area, whose activities would be significantly affected by the fence, so they don’t have to turn to the EU, and all legal possibilities are given to the construction.

However, Ferenc Bojtos, associate of Csemete Association said that one of the most endangered mammals of Europe lives in the area. It is the Delvidek mole rat (Nannospalax montanosyrmiensis), whose rescue a program launched in 2012, because they are fewer than the giant pandas. The concreted foundation of the fence would hinder the mole rat’s underground movement. A colleague of a national park said the flightless animals would certainly become isolated from their conspecifics, and even butterflies couldn’t get through the fence under 4 m height.