Protracted migration process

On Monday, György Bakondi, Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister told public television channel M1 that a number of signs point towards a protracted migration process.

Bakondi said that even though the agreement between Turkey and the EU is still in force, the number of migrants on the islands of Greece has doubled. The reason for this is that deportations have been on hold since the coup attempt in Turkey, and according to various political statements, if the EU does not grant Turks visa-free travel, the agreement will be suspended.

Consequently, migrants are being transported from islands to land, from where they set off towards Europe’s heart, thus increasing the pressure on Hungary’s borders, Bakondi explained. He also added that because of these circumstances, the Government of Hungary has decided to increase the number of police officers on duty on Hungary’s borders by 3,000 people.

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In an interview with public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió, Bakondi said that until now, in 2016, 18,000 people have attempted to cross the Hungarian-Serbian border illegally, and there are currently 2,200 people waiting in the transit zones. Therefore Hungary’s position is that illegal migration must be stopped, not just halted, he added. He also expressed his hope that at the European Council’s next meeting, the Visegrád countries will present a joint, harmonised proposal on this topic.

Source: kormany.hu/MTI