Hungary offers Serbia additional help in stemming illegal migration
Hajdukovo, August 25 (MTI) – Hungary will continue to help Serbia in its border protection efforts aimed at stemming the wave of illegal migrants, the interior minister said in Hajdukovo (Hajdújárás), northern Serbia, on Thursday.
Sándor Pintér visited the village in the province of Vojvodina (Vajdaság) near the Hungarian border where he held talks with Nebojsa Stefanovic, his Serbian counterpart.
The two ministers reviewed their countries’ security situation from the point of view of pressure posed by migration. They agreed to draft proposals on possible measures that could help neighbouring countries and the EU to tackle the migrant crisis.
Hungary is ready to further help Serbia by contributing police units, as well as providing information and legal consultancy in connection with Serbian efforts to protect its border with Macedonia and Bulgaria, Pintér told reporters after the meeting.
Pintér reaffirmed Hungary’s position that the EU and its external borders must be protected.
He said that once the issue of border protection is resolved, migrants will no longer be waiting in long queues at transit zones at the Hungarian-Serbian border.
Answering a question, Pintér ruled out the possibility that Hungary would increase the number of asylum applications received per day.
“Only genuine asylum-seekers have a chance of entering Hungary, whereas those who fail to meet requirements set by the Geneva Convention cannot in any way hope to be accepted,” Pintér said.
Stefanovic said that of the countries in the region, only Hungary has taken in a certain number of migrants. He said he could not exactly say how many migrants had crossed through Serbia this year but estimates suggest the number in the country is just over 4,000.
Photo: Balázs Béli
Source: MTI
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