Hungary border control

Here’s how Hungary wants Europe to tackle with the migration

Iranian Christian Hungary migration border control illegal entrants europe

As part of its EU presidency, Hungary has put forward several proposals on resolving the issue of migration, which the EU has not tackled successfully since 2015, the prime minister’s chief security advisor told public broadcaster M1 on Saturday evening.

Hungary advocates introducing an EU-wide system for asylum applications to be submitted outside the bloc, and it also champions tight controls of the external borders, György Bakondi said.

He noted increasing pressure posed by migration along three main routes: most migrants trek from Arica to the Canary Islands, while along the second most dangerous route, many Muslims are transported to the shores of Italy on small boats from the Sahara region, he said.

At the same time, the Balkan route has seen a big uptick in migration, though the Hungarian border is now under less pressure thanks to cooperation between Serbian and Hungarian police, which started last October. Afghan people smuggling rings have been forced out of the region, relocating to the Bosnian-Croatian border, he said.

Bakondi hailed Italian efforts to help the governments of Tunisia, Libya and Algeria, providing incentives aimed at preventing migration from their shores.

Read also:

End of Schengen at Hungary’s borders? Here’s Slovenia’s unforeseen decision

End of Schengen at Hungarys borders

The Slovenian interior minister announced that his country would continue border control even during the summer and postponed its possible end date until 21 December. The border between Slovenia and Hungary “disappeared” after both countries joined the Schengen Zone in 2007. It seems that the measure lasted less than 15 years.

Slovenia extends border control deadline

According to 444.hu, Slovenia decided to prolong its border control on the Hungarian-Slovenian border for six more months. The new possible end date is 21 December, but the Slovenian government postponed that multiple times. The same measure applies to the Croatian-Slovenian border.

Interior minister Bostjan Poklukar announced on Wednesday that new threats appeared recently, affecting public order and safety in Slovenia and the European Union considerably. He mentioned the violence in the Middle East, the growing tensions between Iran and Israel, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, he talked about cyber attacks against Slovenia, the UEFA European Football Championships in Germany and the upcoming summer Olympic games in Paris. Mr Poklukar did not forget to mention the illegal migration, too.

border fence illegal migration schengen
The Hungarian border fence at the Serbian-Hungarian border. Is this the future of the Schengen Zone? Photo: facebook.com/UNHCRMagyarorszag

Could joint patrols be an alternative?

He repeated that Ljubljana is ready to introduce joint border patrol with Italian police officers. Such joint patrols could be an alternative to the “temporary Schengen border controls”, he added.

He said they would not like to disturb travellers, the economy or people close to the borders.

Slovenia reinstated temporary border control on 21 October 2023. That came after Rome’s similar decision. Both measures have been prolonged multiple times.

Border control schengen zone
Photo: facebook.com/PoliceHungaryOfficial

Germany and Austria also reinstated border control: here’s the end of Schengen?

Germany did the same last October. According to Portfolio, they apprehended 920 people smugglers and 37,600 illegal migrants thanks to the measure. Therefore, they also prolonged it until December. Border control has been in effect on the Austrian-German border since autumn 2015.

Austria decided to prolong border control on the Hungarian-Austrian border this April, and the measure will be in effect until November.

It seems that Schengen may collapse due to illegal migration and the growing number of violent conflicts in and close to Europe.

Read also:

  • Austria to extend border control at Hungarian border for 6 more months – Read more HERE
  • 32 Ukrainians detained for illegally crossing into Hungary in fake military truck

32 Ukrainians detained for illegally crossing into Hungary in fake military truck

ukraine truck

On June 9, a GAZ-66 truck bearing military license plates illegally crossed the Ukrainian-Hungarian border in the Transcarpathia region, known for its Hungarian population. Hungarian police later detained 32 Ukrainian citizens near the village of Barabás, Hungary. An investigation into the incident is currently underway.

Local Ukrainian journalist Vitaliy Glagola first reported the incident, sharing a photo of the truck as it crossed the border.

The Ukrainian Border Guard Service clarified that the truck did not belong to the armed forces, suggesting that the license plates were likely fake. Several individuals suspected of involvement in the incident were also detained.

The illegal transportation of draft-age men out of Ukraine is a growing issue, as martial law currently prohibits them from leaving the country. Thousands are attempting to escape to Hungary, Romania, and Moldova. Romanian police reports indicate that since February 2022, over 11,000 people have crossed illegally from Ukraine. Many of these attempts involve crossing the Tisza River by swimming, a perilous endeavor that has resulted in at least 24 drownings.

  • read also: Slovenia extends controls at Hungarian and Croatian borders, details HERE

Breaking: Slovenia extends controls at Hungarian and Croatian borders

Border control Slovenia Hungary Schengen

Slovenia is extending border controls on the Croatian and Hungarian borders for another six months, until December, Slovenian Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar announced on Wednesday.

Slovenia to extend border controls

Border control Slovenia Hungary Schengen
Photo: FB/Magyar Rendőrség

The minister said that he had informed his Croatian and Hungarian counterparts, as well as the European Commission, of the decision, RTV writes. The extension of border controls was announced by Ljubljana after Italy also extended them on the Italian-Slovenian border on Wednesday.

Hungary’s neighbour reintroduced temporary border controls on 21 October last year, justified by threats to public order and internal security in the EU, the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, and recent terrorist attacks in some EU countries. According to Poklukar, the situation has not improved since then but has got worse.

Boštjan Poklukar stressed that border checks will continue to be targeted, which means that not all passengers will be checked. He said that the measures would not cause any more problems during the tourist season than during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Read also:

Hungary will connect Austria and the Balkans with Chinese help and Europe’s top border crossing

brussels declared war border protection

Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, announced the building of Europe’s largest border crossing with Serbia and Chinese partners during the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Europe’s top border crossing will be in Hungary

Szijjártó announced that the new border crossing will connect Serbia and Hungary, and will be Europe’s biggest, safest and fastest. “The Röszke border crossing is busy. Unfortunately, we are all familiar with photos of long car and truck queues there”, the Hungarian foreign minister added.

A government decree about building a border crossing at the Hungarian-Serbian border appeared on 4 March in the Hungarian Gazette. The decree called ministers concerned to compile a feasibility study for a so-called “Röszke 3” expressway border crossing. Furthermore, the decree requested preparatory works to build a new border crossing at Tompa.

röszke border crossing Austria Western Balkans Hungary connects
Röszke border crossing. Source: FB/Katalin Novák

What does this mean?

The M5 motorway leaves Hungary to Serbia at the Röszke border crossing. Röszke 2 is for those who do not want to travel from or to Serbia on motorway. The government aims to create a Röszke 3, another motorway border crossing.

Tompa does not have a motorway connection, and Telex suspects the Orbán cabinet would like to extend the Hungarian expressway system there. The Hungarian news outlet found out how.

Currently, the M5 motorway is one of the busiest in Hungary, giving place for transit between Western Europe and the Balkans. János Lázár, Hungary’s construction and transport minister, terminated more than 270 construction projects in 2023. Later, he gave the green light to 24. Two are expressway constructions. They aim to connect Serbia with Hungary’s least busy motorway, the M6.

One-day motorway ticket in Hungary
Hungarian motorway. Photo: FB/NÚSZ Zrt.

New connection between Austria and the Balkans

The M6 connects Pécs with Budapest, but the traffic is not significant, since it leads to East Croatia. The Orbán cabinet now seems to work on diverting at least part of the Western Balkans traffic (goods and guest workers) to that expressway, which is why Tompa is so important. Tompa is not far from Szabadka, a Hungarian-majority city in Northern Serbia, where trucks and cars can continue their journey on Serbia’s busiest expressway, the A1.

szabadka hungarian sign vandalised serbia
The Szabadka sign vandalised in Vojvodina, Serbia. Source: Facebook/Dr. Pásztor Bálint (VMSZ)

The development would establish an alternative route between Serbia and Austria without placing an unbearable burden on Hungary’s M5 motorway.

According to Telex, one of the disadvantages of Hungary’s road system is that every motorway leads to Budapest’s ring road, the M0. The government should build East-West motorways, but such ambitions are not part of the short-term plans.

Read also:

Austria to extend border control at Hungarian border for 6 more months

Austria Hungary border crossing border control

Bad news for people heading to Austria: the country plans to extend internal border controls with Slovenia and Hungary for a further six months from mid-May, when the current measure expires.

Why is border control necessary?

Austria Hungary border crossing
Photo: facebook.com/drfarkasciprian

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner announced the news during a visit to the Slovenian border at Spielfeld. According to him, the measure is necessary to prevent illegal migration and people smuggling, SchengenVisaInfo reports.

Austria initially introduced internal control at its borders with Slovenia and Hungary in 2022 and has been extending the restrictions ever since, Travelo writes.

The last extension occurred in November 2023. Back then, Austria decided to maintain border controls between the two countries until May 2024. Minister Karner pointed out at the time that the internal border controls had already proved effective. He added that smugglers no longer chose his country as their route or main destination.

The latest measures and the increased pressure on the borders are having an effect, and human traffickers are already avoiding Austria,

SchengenVisaInfo quoted Gerhard Karner as saying.

Slovenia is against Austria’s decision

Hungarian–Austrian border
Source: Youtube / Cyberpress

While Austria says that internal border controls are necessary to prevent illegal migration and people smuggling, Slovenia opposes the extension of the measure, arguing that the internal border controls that Austria has applied for years are not in line with EU law.

As internal border controls often cause delays even for EU citizens, Slovenia has called on Austria to end this measure. Despite this, the latter decided to maintain internal border controls until mid-November.

In addition to these two countries, Austria currently maintains internal border controls with the Czech Republic.

The Czech Minister of the Interior, Vít Rakusan, stressed that the controls that Austria continues to maintain have a minimal impact on cross-border movement and cause little, if any, inconvenience to Czech citizens crossing the border.

Slovenia also prolonged border control on the Hungarian border

As we reported last December, the Slovenian government decided to prolong strict border control on their borders with Hungary and Croatia. The extension lasts much longer than any of the previous ones: until 22 June 2024. The same extension applies to the Slovenian-Croatian border.

In December, Ljubjana said the reason behind the decision was the dangerous Middle East and Ukraine situation and the terrorist attacks committed in different EU member states. Authorities say terror danger is high in Slovenia, and if something menaces one Schengen member, it means the zone is under threat. They added that illegal migration increases security risks in the region.

Read also:

Exciting News: Hungary’s motorway network expands with two new sections!

Hungary's motorway

According to media reports, two new sections of Hungary’s motorways are set to open soon: the M6 motorway and the new segment of the M44 motorway.

M44

Referring to the Ministry of Construction and Transport, 444.hu reports that the opening of the new section of the M44 between Kecskemét and the Tisza Bridge was initially promised for March, but this did not materialise. Although the ministry completed the technical handover, the procedure for opening the traffic is still ongoing.

M6

The last section of the M6 motorway in southern Transdanubia, the 20 km or so between Bóly and the border, will be opened to traffic in two phases. In early May, the roughly 13 kilometers between Bóly and Villány and the last section between Villány and the border is expected to be completed by the Croats in spring 2025, when the A5 will be finished.

The final section of the M6 motorway in southern Transdanubia, spanning approximately 20 kilometres between Bóly and the border, will be opened to traffic in two phases. In early May, the roughly 13 kilometres between Bóly and Villány will be inaugurated, with the last section between Villány and the border expected to be completed by the Croats in spring 2025, aligning with the completion of the A5.

m6 motorway hungary croatia
The M6 motorway at the Croatian border that runs into nowhere. Source: Facebook/FÅ‘mterv Zrt.

As we previously covered, the Hungarian motorway extends to the Croatian border, seemingly ending abruptly  – PHOTOS

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Hungary and Ukraine to sign border traffic agreement

szijjártó brussels ukraine border traffic agreement

Hungary and Ukraine is expected to sign a border traffic agreement on Monday, paving the way to opening a new crossing between the two countries, the foreign minister said on Thursday.

New border crossing with Ukraine on the horizon?

Noting a meeting in Uzhorod (Ungvar) earlier this year, and the decision to set up a working group “to find a way to restore all rights of the Hungarian community they have been stripped of since 2015,” Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook that “we sat down, virtually, in Budapest, Kyiv, Brussels and Uzhorod on Thursday to continue the work we started.”

He said that at the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitro Kuleba, and presidential office head Andriy Yirmak in January, “we put our expectations down in an 11-point list of steps necessary for . restoring the Hungarian ethnic community’s rights connected to preserving their identity and use of the mother tongue.”.

The border traffic agreement expanding capacity at the existing crossings and opening a new one “will provide a good baseline of trust” for that process, he added.

Read also:

Czech police cease assistance at Hungarian-Serbian border, citing drop in illegal migration

Czech police have decided to withdraw their assistance in controlling the Hungarian-Serbian border, citing a significant decrease in illegal migration along the route from the southern Balkans through Serbia to Hungary. David Schön, spokesperson for the Czech National Police Headquarters, announced this decision in Prague on Monday.

MTI reported that the last 40-strong contingent of Czech police, stationed at the southern Hungarian border, returned to the Czech Republic by the end of the first week of March. Schön explained, “After evaluating the current overall migration risk and in coordination with the Hungarian authorities, we have suspended the deployment of additional Czech police units to Hungary.” He acknowledged the combined efforts of Serbian security forces and measures implemented on the Hungarian side for the improved situation.

“Nevertheless, police experts continue to monitor and evaluate all new data and events. Should the need arise, assistance to Czech police officers in Hungary will be resumed. The Czech Republic is ready to respond immediately to any request from Hungary or any other state,” Schön affirmed.

Last year, approximately 240 Czech police officers took turns patrolling Hungary’s southern border. The most recent 40-member contingent was on duty from mid-January until early March.

As we wrote a few days earlier, the government tightened the sanctions regarding the employment of foreign workers from third countries. Details here.

Read also:

Delays at Hungarian border crossings, Budapest airport due to IT glitch – UPDATE

Border control Slovenia Hungary Schengen

Travellers using Liszt Ferenc International Airport and many of the country’s road border crossings are warned that an IT glitch is causing delays, the National Police Headquarters (ORFK) said on Monday morning.

Work is currently under way to fix the issue, the statement said.

They added that travellers could find updates on the Border Info page of the police website police.hu and the Rutin app.

  • read also: This year’s first major police traffic checks are coming soon – ROADPOL actions

Update

IT glitch that caused delays at border crossings, airport resolved

An IT glitch which caused delays at Liszt Ferenc International Airport and road border crossings has been resolved, the National Police Headquarters (ORFK) said on Monday.

Border traffic is again flowing normally, the statement on police.hu said.

Problem at several border crossing points in Hungary, Budapest Airport affected

Budapest Airport flight

Among others, there is an IT problem at Budapest Airport and several border crossing points in Hungary. Passengers departing or arriving at the airport should expect increased waiting times, the police pointed out.

An IT system problem occurred at several road border crossing points and at Budapest Airport from 7:55 AM on Wednesday morning, police.hu reported.

They said that travellers should expect increased waiting times and that technicians are working to rectify the problem.

Information on the opening hours and current waiting times at border crossing points can be found on the Határinfó page of the police website and via the Rendőrségi Útinformációs Rendszer (Police Road Information System, Rutin) mobile application.

Read also:

PHOTOS: New Ipoly-bridge inaugurated

New Ipoly-bridge to Slovakia

Hungary continues to be committed to opening as many border crossings with Slovakia as possible, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Friday, on completion of a new bridge spanning the River Ipoly between Drégelypalánk, in northern Hungary, and Slovakia’s Ipelske Predmostie (Ipolyhídvég).

The new bridge costing 2.9 billion forints (EUR 7.6m) was, the minister said, “a milestone” in Hungary’s national strategy programme, adding that building cooperation, especially with neighbouring countries, had been a key government priority since 2010.

Hungary has the longest common border with Slovakia, Szijjártó noted, adding that the 654km border section had only offered 22 crossing points back in 2010.

Following an agreement signed by the two countries in 2014, that number has doubled, Szijjártó said, calling these developments “a success story achieved by Hungary and Slovakia”.

New Ipoly bridge inaugurated
Photo: MTI

Hungary, he said, was ready to continue building further bridges, roads, and railway lines connecting it to Slovakia. The government, he added, was looking forward to an upcoming official visit by Slovak PM Robert Fico next Tuesday, which would offer an opportunity for further talks on the subject.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said Slovakia was Hungary’s third largest trading partner, with bilateral trade turnover exceeding a record 17 billion euros in 2022.

River Ipoly washed away the road
Photo: MTI

The new bridge replaces a 15th century that was destroyed in the second world war.

Read also:

  • New Danube bridge to be built in Hungary – Details, videos, photos in THIS article
  • Budapest’s long-forgotten bridge right next to the Parliament – Check out the details HERE

Here are some more photos:

This year’s first major police traffic checks are coming soon – ROADPOL actions

police

Motorists, as is customary, encounter various European traffic checks annually lasting a week – these are the upcoming 2024 ROADPOL actions.

Lorries and buses

ROADPOL has pulished its plans and dates for 2024, with the initial focus on lorries and buses scheduled from 19th to 25th February 2024.

During this operation, the police will target trucks and buses, scrutinising compliance with regulations binding professional drivers. Authorities will pay specific attention to drivers’ adherence to rest periods, rules regarding the transport of hazardous materials and scrutiny of entry and legality of stay in the country.

Needless to say, this operation doesn’t only concern heavy vehicles; motorists must also adhere to rules, otherwise they risk being ejected from the queue just as swiftly,” warns alapjarat.hu.

Seat belt check – 11-17 March 2024

In March, the police will shift focus from vehicle type to seat belts, ensuring proper usage. Besides proper equipment use, penalties may be imposed if the seat belt is faulty, stuck or broken.

Speed speed check – 15-21 April 2024

The Speed series of actions remains an important part of ROADPOL’s annual plan, as speeding has once again played a major role in the accident statistics for the first half of this year.

A 24-hour SpeedMarathon check is scheduled for 19 April.

Recent police announcements suggest a rise in criminal activities like robbery, theft or assault in Hungary, marking certain areas as crime-ridden. Here are the most crime-ridden areas of the country.

  • Read also – Hungarian Rhapsody: A Hungarian special edition of Ferrari 296 GTB – PHOTOS

Attention! Major change coming to the Hungarian-Slovakian border in weeks

Border control

Slovakia has no plans to extend border controls at the Hungarian border beyond 22 January.

“Slovakia will not extend controls at the Hungarian border after 22 January,” Slovak Interior Minister Sutaj Estok told Slovak commercial television Markíza on Wednesday.

According to the Slovak Interior Minister, the current situation remains calm and stable, with no immediate concerns about illegal immigration.

Estok also noted that another wave of migration could arrive in the spring. Consequently, he expressed a desire for the police and military to take a break to prepare for potential challenges.

Slovakia introduced temporary border controls on the Slovak-Hungarian border on 5 October. One day after the Czech Republic, Austria and Poland did the same at the Slovak border, 24.hu reports.

Read also:

Shots fired at Hungarian-Ukrainian border: people fleeing military service arrested

Ukrainian border guards stopped 12 border crossers with warning shots on Tuesday at the Ukrainian-Hungarian green border. The all-male group turned out to be trying to escape to Hungary in order to avoid conscription.

As reported by Kárpáti Igaz Szó, according to a report from the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service on Wednesday, the staff of the Astei branch of the Mukachevo Border Guard Fetachment on Tuesday spotted a group of 12 people on foot heading towards Hungary.

The members of the group – all of them men of military age – did not stop even when the border guards called them to do so. The border guards were only able to force them to stop by firing several shots into the air.

The preliminary investigation revealed that the detained persons are residents of Transcarpathia. The Border Patrol forwarded the case to the police, who initiated proceedings for illegal border crossing and disobeying the authorities. The border guards also managed to identify and arrest the man who had transported the Transcarpathian men to the green border for 12,000 hryvnias (approximately EUR 290) each.

According to Telex, the search for ways out of military conscription in Ukraine has reached serious proportions. In August, a network of doctors was uncovered, offering bribes of between USD 3,000 and USD 15,000 to provide exemption certificates, allowing thousands of Ukrainians to escape conscription abroad.

Read also:

Traffic on Hungarian roads is heavy, so trucks heading to Ukraine are diverted to Romania

M0 Hungary Budapest traffic cars transport hungarian motorway

The measure does not apply to passenger cars, but heavy traffic at the exit points sometimes causes congestion.

Due to congestion at the border crossing points on the Ukrainian-Hungarian border, at the Borsókút rest area at km 82 on the M3 motorway towards Vásárosnamény, at the Geleji rest area at km 142, the police are diverting truck traffic to Ukraine and directing trucks to the M35 – M4 motorway route, towards the Nagykerek border crossing, according to a statement by Útinform on Monday morning. The measure does not apply to passenger cars, but vehicles are sometimes congested at the exit points due to heavy traffic.

As we wrote today Bus drivers’ strike could cause huge chaos in Hungary on Monday.

Traffic is also heavy on the roads leading to Budapest, with saturated lanes

  • on the access section of the M3 motorway,
  • on the main road 10 in Solymár,
  • on the main road 11 at Leányfalu
  • and main road 51 in the Dunaharaszti area.

In Komárom-Esztergom county, the section between Tardos and Bikol on the road between Süttő and Vértestolna is still impassable due to trees and tree felling. The village of Pilisszentlélek is raining on this section, but local residents are being let off.

This is what the roads will look like in Hungary today – December 11, 2024

Overcast, cloudy, and foggy in the capital and east of the Danube, with drizzle in the Szombathely and Csorna areas, Útinform says.

The pavement of expressways and main and secondary roads is mostly salty and sometimes wet due to preventive protection.

Visibility is moderate in the northern central hills, in the central areas of the Great Plain and in the Tárnok area, with visibility between 100-300 m.Fog patches near Bicske and Szentendre make driving difficult, while in Fejér, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok and Csongrád-Csanád counties, humidity is reported.

In the Tapolca area, southerly winds are moderate (30-39 km/h), while elsewhere the winds are light or calm.

Temperatures vary between -2 and +6 degrees C.

As we wrote before, paid parking zones in Budapest are in total disarray

Hungary has demonstrated how to protect the border

Hungarian border fence

Hungary has demonstrated how to protect the border, Bence Rétvári, parliamentary state secretary of the interior ministry, said on Thursday.

The European Union’s external land borders span 440km, while its internal borders add up to 7,500km, and it is obvious that it is the shorter section that needs to be protected against illegal migration, Rétvári told public radio.

Rétvári spoke in connection with a meeting of the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs Council he attended this week, where he played a video of the attacks Hungarian police officers have to endure from armed illegal migrants on the southern border.

Hungary’s border protection works but will only be effective in protecting the whole of Europe if it cannot be bypassed, the state secretary said. “This is what should be done on the Bulgarian and Greek borders, too,” he added.

Rétvári said there had been attempts to talk the Hungarian delegation out of playing the video, but once the video was played, it was met with “stunned silence”. Many at the meeting, he said, had snapped photos of the scenes in the video or asked for a copy.

“The reason why they were stunned by the video was because in their mind the job of border guards isn’t to protect the border but to help illegal migrants submit their asylum applications,” Rétvári said.

He said western European media did not report on what is happening on Hungary’s southern border, “and whatever isn’t covered in the papers doesn’t exist to decision-makers, either”.

The state secretary said Brussels was working on adding exceptions to the EU’s planned migration directive that provide a basis for taking in migrants. He added that Hungary was hopeful the central European member states could reach an agreement on the need to protect the bloc’s external border in the region.

Read also:

Truck drivers flooded Hungary, border crossing fell: queue lasts 48h

Border crossing fundamental change

That comes after the blockade of the Polish and Slovakian shippers. As a result, lorry drivers heading towards Ukraine must come to Hungary, and their only option to cross the border is at Záhony.

According to portfolio.hu, the line of trucks to Záhony reaches 20 kilometres, meaning that more than 1,000 vehicles are in the queue. Some drivers have been waiting for days to get through. The reason is the blockade of the Polish and Slovakian truck drivers concerning all border crossings to Ukraine.

The Polish truck drivers began a protest because their Ukrainian colleagues could enter the Schengen zone without special authorisation after the start of the Russian invasion. That undermines the operation of Polish transport companies.

Read also:

  • Public transport becomes free in Hungarian town with world-known restaurant, castles – Read more HERE