Serbian, Austrian, Hungarian interior ministers agree on cooperation in handling migrants

Budapest, June 30 (MTI) – The interior ministers of Serbia, Austria and Hungary signed a letter of agreement on Tuesday to start close cooperation in handling the extraordinary pressure from migration affecting all three countries.

Austria’s Johanna Mikl-Leitner told a press conference in Budapest after signing the document that joint border controls and enhancing teams investigating human smugglers will be the cooperation’s key elements. European Union agencies will be involved as much as possible, she added.

Serbia’s Nebojsa Stefanovic said his country aspires to become an EU member and will therefore do everything it can. Serbia is taking its share in handling the load of migrants and joint patrols have been started with Hungarian guards on the Serbian-Macedonian border.

Hungary’s Sandor Pinter said a total of 67,000 people had requested refugee status in Hungary by midnight on Monday. Social services are at breaking point and many migrants can only be accommodated in tents and modified containers, he added.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters