Hungary’s police chief: International cooperation key to tackling illegal migration

Budapest, September 9 (MTI) – Illegal migration can only be successfully combatted through international cooperation, Hungary’s police chief Károly Papp said at the 38th congress of European capitals’ police chiefs in Budapest on Friday.

The security challenges encountered by Europe over the past year have reduced citizens’ subjective sense of security, Papp told his international colleagues. The terrorist attacks that occurred highlight the need for more effective international cooperation among European law enforcement agencies and secret services, particularly in information sharing and improving preventive measures, he added.

Alongside the series of terrorist attacks Europe has recently faced, the continent’s biggest challenge since 2015 has been illegal migration, Papp said.

The task of combatting illegal migration wears heavily on Hungary’s police force, but thanks to the government’s recent measures, Budapest is a city free of extremism with consistent security, the police chief said.

He noted that over the past year, Hungary, under bilateral agreements and within the framework of EU border agency Frontex, has sent police units to help out with border protection efforts in Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Greece.

Thanks to the government’s measures against illegal migration, which have included erecting a fence on Hungary’s border with Serbia, the number of illegal migrants entering Hungary this year has gone down significantly compared to the roughly 400,000 people who crossed the border illegally last year, he said. But the number of illegal entrants is still significantly higher than at the beginning of the decade, he added.

The conference is being attended by the police chiefs of 30 European and two non-European countries, according to the police headquarters’ website. The police chiefs of Belgium, Estonia, France, Iceland, Poland, Russia, Spain and the UK are all scheduled to address the event.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI