Hungary, Austria, Serbia leaders to discuss illegal migration in Budapest

A summit meeting of Hungary, Austria, and Serbia will be held in Budapest next Monday focusing on joint efforts to fight illegal migration, the Hungarian prime minister’s press office said on Thursday.

The international press quoted Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer as saying that the talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic would also touch upon joint action against organised crime and smuggling.

Szijjártó: Global security at stake

The world’s security is at stake because of the war in Ukraine, the Hungarian foreign minister said at a ministerial meeting of the United Nations’ Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok. In a video published on Facebook on Thursday, Péter Szijjártó warned of a continued escalation of the war, adding that the world was also facing other challenges.

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The war poses risks physically, financially, as well as in terms of energy and food supplies, the minister said. “Things are going in the wrong direction and the results of efforts of several decades could be compromised,” he said, adding that the impacts of the war could be felt in Asia and the Pacific region, too.

The Hungarian government is working to promote peace, which is crucial to rein in inflation, soaring energy prices and restoring the global security of food supplies, he said. Hungary will support “any decision that brings peace closer but decline to endorse ones that would prolong the war”, he added.

Szijjártó called for further strengthening ties between Europe and Asia “based on mutual respect”, and warned that recession in Europe could not be avoided unless supply chains linking the two regions were restored. He called on the UN to ensure smooth operations of shipping routes in Europe and Asia, and “restore ties between the two continents to the basis of free trade”.

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Some 11,000 refugees arrive from Ukraine on Wednesday

Fully 6,632 people crossed into Hungary directly from Ukraine on Wednesday, while another 4,824 crossed from Romania, the National Police Headquarters (ORFK) said.

Police issued temporary residence permits valid for thirty days to 149 people, ORFK told MTI on Thursday. Holders of such permits must contact a local immigration office near their place of residence within thirty days to apply for permanent documents, it added.

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Source: MTI