Orbán: Hungary to maintain or heighten all security measures at borders

Budapest, March 23 (MTI) – Hungary will maintain or heighten all security measures at its borders, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after a meeting of the operative staff on Wednesday.

Orbán told public news channel M1 that Hungary’s security situation was reviewed at the meeting in the wake of Tuesday’s Brussels bombings.

The operative staff will maintain a terrorism alert at the second highest level and the full alert of the counter-terrorism force TEK. Police forces throughout the country will be put on a high state of alert and the migration state of emergency will be kept in place.

Orbán said he had instructed Interior Minister Sándor Pintér to prepare all terrorism-related proposals for Wednesday’s cabinet meeting that had been stymied by political disputes, including a planned amendment to the constitution that would hand the government sweeping counter-terrorism powers.

Hungary must upgrade its technology in order to catch up with countries whose security services have the best technical background. “We will buy technology and hold training and instruction courses,” Orbán said.

What the general public will notice is a high police presence and at certain locations, such as the airport, armoured vehicles, Orbán said. Patrolling officers will be visible in the streets and authorities will monitor the use of “equipment suitable for information transfer”. Orbán asked Hungarians to accept the measures “with patience” and to cooperate with the authorities.