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| Experts and politicians fear the world is on the verge of a catastrophic war |
Both the Hungarian and Italian prime ministers have spoken of huge dangers of unchecked floods of immigrants from Africa and the Middle East which have set previously peacable EU nations against each other.
The scenario - especially the one currently being played out in Serbia and Hungary - is hauntingly similar to that which triggered the First World War.
The problem has manifesting itself in central Europe where Hungary is besieged by growing numbers of refugees passing through from Serbia and Croatia, forcing its government to build fences to stem the influx.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán warned European life and its established laws were under threat from huge numbers of people heading through the continent from war-torn states in the Middle East.
In a defence against criticism of the aggressive stance against refugees taken by the country, he said yesterday: "Our borders are in danger. Our way of life where we respect the law is in danger.
"The whole of Hungary and Europe is in danger.
"The migrants are blitzing us."
Hungary and Serbia have constantly been at each others' throats over the issue, with Budapest urging its non-EU neighbours to do more to help tackle the growing neighbours migrants.
It is now sending troops armed with rubber bullets and tear gas to the border with Serbia to protect the country's frontier.
Pinter Bence, a Hungarian political journalist for the mandiner.hu website said the situation with growing tensions between nations was reminiscent of the international scenario from just over 100 years ago.
He said: "This is how the eve of the First World War could have looked like: complete hesitancy, the termination of the usual channels of diplomacy, the lack of solidarity, pressure to take a step and the countries issuing threats to each other are all reminding us of that. It definitely doesn't look like a cooperating Europe. » | Rob Virtue and Agnes Kegl, Exclusive | Tuesday, September 22, 2015
