Hungarian police contingent returns home from Bulgaria

The Hungarian police officers arrested a total of 350 illegal immigrants together with their Bulgarian colleagues along the Serbian-Bulgarian border.

The ten police officers were welcomed on Monday at Stand-by Police Headquarters in Budapest by Deputy National Police Commissioner János Balogh.

In his speech, Mr. Balogh stressed: “The new legislative amendment will come into force on Monday and provides police with a new opportunity to take action. According to the legislation, police will have the right to stop foreign citizens who are in Hungary illegally within an 8-kilometre zone along the border and escort them through the gate of the closest border protection facility, unless they are suspected of committing a crime in which case the police officer may not make us of this opportunity and must act in fulfilment of other requirements”.

Mr. Balogh compared the work of the police contingent to the performance of the Hungarian football team at Euro 2016 and said the goals of the Hungarian police officers were also similar to those of footballers: “to keep the enemy as far away as possible from our own goal”, adding that “The performance of police on duty along the Serbian-Bulgarian border is just as admirable as that of the Hungarian national football team”.

Mr. Balogh also told reporters that the Serbian-Bulgarian border was an alternative path of the Balkan migration route and that according to experience many immigrants are also trying to reach Western Europe from this direction.

“The work of the Hungarian police also proves that it is difficult for countries to successfully combat illegal migration alone, that there is a need for solidarity and that cooperation can achieve excellent results”, he said, citing as an example the fact that the number of people trying to reach Western Europe has fallen to just a few percent of last year’s figures.

The Hungarian police contingent was on a one-month tour of duty along the Serbian-Bulgarian border, and in addition to border protection tasks were also involved in keeping the peace and crime prevention.

Photo: Gergely Botár/kormany.hu

Source: MTI/kormany.hu