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Zoltán Nógrádi has been mayor of the small town in Hungary’s Csongrád County for 22 years. He is the leader of a town on the edge, not just a 30km border with non-EU Serbia, but the edge of the Schengen zone, the last border of the EU bloc. The town’s geographical position as the entrance to Europe makes it a gateway for tourism, a point on many travellers’ journeys - but for the last two years - it has also made it the centre of a crisis which has stunned the rest of Europe. Sitting in his office in the centre of a sleepy town, Mr Nógrádi admits he never imagined anything quite like the migrant crisis exploding on his doorstep.

Getty Images/ Express Hungarian Mayor Zoltán Nógrádi said Morahalom was overwhelmed

Getty Images The town's roads and farms were taken over by hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and migrants

It was not through lack of experience the town struggled - for hundreds of years they have dealt with the arrival of asylum seekers from Kosovo, Romania and other Balkan nations. But this time it was different. As war and terror ravaged parts of Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Africa, a mass migration to Europe began - later dubbed the ‘migrant crisis’. And Mórahalom, as the first place along the Balkan route in Europe, was about to become the front line. The sheer number of people crossing the border from non-EU Serbia in summer 2015 overwhelmed the town, and quickly exhausted resources. For four months THOUSANDS crossed everyday. For Mr Nogradi, one of the worst moments came, when without warning, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced to Syrian asylum seekers they would be welcomed in her homeland.

But, before they could reach Germany, they would have to cross ocean and land borders - one of which is in Mórahalom. As soon as the message aired on global news channels, the town braced itself for the barrage. Months later, Mr Nógrádi recalls the utter fear with which the message was received. He said: “In the middle of June Ms Merkel said there is no maximum number of migrants planned to the immigrants who can come to their country. “We knew after she told it our lives would be totally desperate. The streets were filled with migrants trying to make it to the UK, France and Germany - farms were trampled and residents were petrified. At first, Mr Nógrádi was hopeful the European Commission would swoop in and provide support - but it soon became clear - the little town was on its own. He said: “Daily four or five thousand migrants were going across the town. “This is a town of seven thousand people and this movement of people was 24 hours per day. “They did not only use the roads, they came through gardens, buildings, houses, everything and it made tensions. “The total desperation of these citizens was caused by those tensions. The second thing that caused tensions was Brussels. They did nothing. They did not even realise how big the problem is. “The only message they heard from Brussels's from Commissioner Juncker in the summer that they are going for holiday. So they postponed the situation until the autumn when they will have a conference about migration.”

Express Zoltán Nógrádi has been mayor of the small city in Hungary’s Csongrád County for 22 years

Getty Images The fence runs for 30km on the border of Mórahalom

I am the mayor for 22 years. I am building this town for 22 years - our future was desperate Zoltán Nógrádi

Mayor Nógrádi, also a member of the county’s assembly, described the situation as “chaotic”. His town of 7,000 inhabitants had turned into what he described as a “war-zone”. He said: “It happened for almost two years but last summer was the worst. “They went into schools, churches, bus stations and schools. “This was not scary or a horror story. There were only tensions - but they were big tensions. “Just imagine 24/7 you are at home at night in your bed and strangers are going through your garden. You can’t feel safe. How can you be relaxed? “This town is a touristic area because of the spa and we sell 110,000 nights per year, we have four star hotels and we sell 500,000 guests in the spa per year. “There are big fruit farms on the outside of the town. "All of this almost collapsed because of the migration. The banks stopped transferring loans and the hotels were empty, no tourists and no investors arrived to the town. There was also the so called ‘battle at the border’ - everybody thought this area of the country was a war zone. “I am the mayor for 22 years. I am building this town for 22 years - our future was desperate.”

Express Mórahalom is a sleepy town on the border with Hungary and Serbia

According to the Mayor, it was only when Hungary’s ruling Fidesz Government gave permission for the erection of a 175km razor wire fence around their country, their troubles were over. The razor wire fence built by the Hungarian Government, in the opinion of the town, is the ONLY thing which stemmed the flow of migrants to the bloc. He said: “All through the 30km of the line the migrants have been flowing. As soon as they started to build the fence. “It moved the flow of people and then it stopped when they finished it. “There would be three or four million more migrants in Germany and Europe and the whole town would have moved away from here and the situation of last summer would be continuing.” Now, as Hungary heads into the referendum this weekend, the mayor, and many of his people, remain angry with the Brussels bureaucrats who left them alone at their most vulnerable. The Government is giving them the chance to vote on whether they will accept imposed migrant quotas under a distribution scheme - and polls show the country is likely to say no.

Google Mórahalom is a 7,000 population of the border of Serbia and Hungary