Hungary border control

Hungarian police beat a German national with a baton in Budapest?

norwegian man living in budapest terrorist mass murder police

The police took into custody the German national and the police officer who beat him. The charge against the foreign individual is assaulting an officer.

According to blikk.hu, a Hungarian tabloid, the investigation is conducted by the Investigative Prosecution Office of the Capital.

Budapest police officers brought a German national to a district police headquarters due to suspicion of crime. However, the man said it was too cold, so an officer let him out to take additional clothes. However, since his sweatshirt was stringed, the police officer did not allow him to take it on because he could harm himself. The German man became outraged and hit him on the chin.

The officer reported that, so another came to help him and hit the German with a baton several times. Even though the man was already on the ground, he continued to beat him, based on the suspicion of the prosecutors.

The German is charged with assaulting an officer, while the officers are charged with abuse in an official procedure.

Hungarian border control officers can be bribed?

More crime and Germans? Here is another shocking news. The German public broadcaster made a documentary movie about human smugglers and their migration to Europe. Among others, they could convince some smugglers to talk about their “work” and how profitable it was or is. An individual, Tamer Bakiner, who smuggles migrants from Türkiye to Germany, said his ‘fee’ is EUR 6,000 per capita.

Bakiner’s partner in Munich said he earned more than EUR 600,000 from the business. A driver who brings them from Serbia to Germany talked about EUR 80-90,000 revenue. He added that the Hungarian border guards let them through without a problem for EUR 800-1000, Nyugati Fény, an opposition media outlet wrote.

Read also:

  • Germans, Slovakians, Chinese and Romanians buy up Hungarian property – Read more HERE

Featured image: illustration

PHOTOS: New Danube bridge opened between Hungary, Slovakia

Hungary and Slovakia on Friday opened a new bridge over the River Ipoly linking the border villages of Őrhalom and Vrbovka (Ipolyvarbó).

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said the bridge was co-financed by the European Union and cost HUF 2.5 billion (EUR 6.6 million) to build.

Whereas in 2010 Hungary and Slovakia had just 22 border crossing points, they now have 39, the minister said. The 40th border crossing will be opened early next year at Drégelypalánk, he said.

Hungary and Slovakia both attach strategic importance to having ways to cross the border legally, Szijjártó said, adding that this was especially true given that Hungary’s longest border section was the one it shared with Slovakia, its third most important trading partner.

As regards the formation of the new Slovak government, Szijjártó noted that in 2014 it had been the governments of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Slovakia’s Robert Fico that had signed the agreement on the construction of the bridges on the Ipoly being completed now.

New Ipoly bridge Slovakia Hungary
Photo: MTI

He said the latest bridge would shorten the travel time by car between Vrbovka and Őrhalom from at least half an hour to a few minutes.

Szijjártó said the bridge’s opening demonstrated the two countries’ “excellent utilisation” of European Union funds.

Meanwhile, the minister said that after a time of “political hatred” between the two countries, cooperation between Hungary and Slovakia was now “a success story based on mutual respect”.

The two countries, he said, supported each other in key matters and contributed to each other’s economic growth and physical security.

Read also:

Corrupt anti-Hungarian mayor escapes to Hungary

Chereches

Romanian media is abuzz with the escape of Cătălin Cherecheș to Hungary.

Just a day before his dramatic flight, Cherecheș declared his innocence, vowing to do everything within his power to restore his family’s honour.

Dubious politics

Having served as the mayor of Baia Mare since 2011, Cherecheș secured re-election in both 2016 and 2020. He was notoriously anti-Hungarian, which he demonstrated on multiple occasions. One of his antics included draping Romanian flags over the Hungarian signage of a chimney cake stand during Baia Mare’s annual chestnut festival. Another notable incident involved his assertion that Hungarian children in Baia Mare would benefit more from attending a multilingual institution than having a separate Hungarian school.

He enjoyed the support of the majority of Baia Mare despite his aggressive politics and the corruption charges against him. These charges stated he allegedly accepted bribes and committed financial misconducts within a trading company, both of which are punishable by law.

Court sentence

Facing corruption accusations since 2016, Cherecheș appealed for a reduced sentence, but the Cluy County Court of Appeals not only rejected the plea but marginally extended the ban on him holding public office. The court seized his Porche Cayenne and two properties as compensation, imposing a fine of 65,000 Romanian lei or 5,000 EUR for damages. A judge involved in the case was subsequently targeted in an attempted bribe, leading to the arrest of Cherecheș’s mother-in-law for bribery.

Cherecheș has been placed under judicial supervision and was supposed to report to the police twice a week. His last visit occurred on the 20th of November. The court announced the final verdict on Friday, condemning Cherecheș to five years of prison time.

Daring escape

According to media reports, Cherecheș was seen entering and leaving the city hall in the early hours of Friday, after which he departed for the Csengersima- Pete border crossing were he slipped through the border using the passport of a maternal cousin. In the words of Cătălin Predoiu, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Cherecheș is “temporarily thwarting his criminal accountability.”

Romania is shaken up by this heinous security breach, prompting the removal of the region’s special operations leader and the county’s border police chief by the head of internal intelligence services (DGPI). An investigation into DGPI’s effectiveness, requested by the Minister of Internal Affairs, must report results to Romanian police leaders by 6 December. An international arrest warrant is now issued for the fugitive Baia Mare mayor.
  • Read more about Hungarians abroad HERE.
  • Read more about foreigners in Hungary HERE.

This Hungarian international train is back on track

Train Budapest depart

MÁV just made the important announcement! They retired this international train 8 years ago. Now it starts running again after its hiatus.

The train between Szeged- Rendező and Röszke continues where it left off eight years ago, better than it ever was. On a more than 13 kilometer section the line and it’s environment was renovated, so now it runs smoothly between the two countries.

Upgraded environment

According to Portfolio the Röszke station was also fully reconstructed to better accommodate the hopefully increasing number of people passing through it’s halls. Among others, they improved the parking lot and made a new raised platform, making it more accessible for those with reduced mobility. They added new rain shelters too! In addition, along the Szeged area they built a noise protection wall on a long section of the track, writes Portfolio.

The actual reconstruction of the line finished last summer, and freight trains could already operate it, but the line was not yet open for passenger trains. This is mostly due to the fact that the necessary safety equipment took longer to obtain and these lacking later had to be revised in the error log. The necessary approvals got approved slower because of this and so the expected opening of the track had to be postponed from October 23rd, 2023.

What to expect

After these hardships, the track will once again open to passenger trains on the 28th of November. There will be ten trains or five pairs running between the two countries daily. The expected travel time will be an hour and a half, this is with the mandatory border control included.

The schedule counts with morning commuter traffic too, since the first pair of trains will arrive to their destinations by half past seven in the morning the latest. It should be noted that the Hungarian discounts can’t be used in Serbia, which includes the county passes and the elderly discounts as well as the children’s. A full price ticket for the whole ride will cost 6.20 EUR or 2360 HUF, except for children under the age of 6, because they ride for free.

Another

Hungary is in a train frenzy! The government has issued a decree, which allows for the Southern Circular railway to be developed. The plans for this development were heavily campaigned against, since it would mean the felling of hundreds of trees. The proposal was refused by the court twice before. Now, the government stated, referring to the war in Ukraine, that the railway was a important element of the national defense system. However with this development in the case, the construction can’t be officially stopped, even if someone would veto the decree. According to a civil organization work has resumed on the track days before the decision was finalized.

As is obvious Hungary is going crazy over trains this month.

  • HERE‘s where you can read more about trains between Serbia and Hungary.
  • HERE‘s where you can read more about Hungary’s defense strategy.

VIDEO: NATO battlegroup in Hungary tested during exercise

NATO battlegroup tested in Hungary

NATO’s multinational battlegroup in Hungary tested its combat capabilities alongside the Hungarian Defence Forces during Exercise Adaptive Hussars 23.

During the exercise, troops from Croatia, Hungary, Italy and Türkiye practised the rapid deployment of mechanised forces across difficult terrain. Hungarian combat engineers erected a pontoon bridge across the Tisza River, allowing Armoured Personnel Carriers and other vehicles to quickly cross and move towards their objectives. These “wet gap crossings” are complicated and labour intensive, yet essential for NATO’s forces to remain mobile, agile and capable of rapidly responding to crises.

Adaptive Hussars was the largest military exercise in Hungary for 30 years, with over 5000 troops involved. Click HERE to download the b-roll. Footage includes a wet gap crossing operation (construction, defence, crossings), footage of Italian paratroopers performing a live fire exercise, and soundbites from battlegroup captains and a commander.

Border officers key to Hungarians’ safety

President Katalin Novák on Friday thanked border officers for their work, saying they guaranteed that Hungarians felt safe in their country.

Novák visited Bácsszentgyörgy, a village near Hungary’s southern border with Serbia, on the third day of her visit to Bács-Kiskun County. She noted that the county had the longest border section with Serbia in Hungary: “Here, the border protects Europe itself, not only Hungary.” Novák also visited a toy factory and Kiskoros, the town where 19th century reform poet Sándor Petőfi was born. In the evening she will host a gala dinner for the county’s officials, where she decorates Ibolya Szilágyi Szinger, the rector of the Eotvos Jozsef College, with the Order of Merit of Hungary, Knight’s Cross.

Read also:

  • Breaking: Slovenia prolongs border controls at Hungarian and Croatian border – Read more HERE
  • Collapsing Schengen: strict control at Hungarian Schengen border remains in effect longer – Details in THIS article

Breaking: Slovenia prolongs border controls at Hungarian and Croatian border

slovenia border controls

The Slovenian government decided on Thursday to prolong border controls at the Croatian and Hungarian borders until 21 December, Slovenian Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar said after a cabinet meeting.

He said the government had also instructed the Foreign Ministry to notify EU member states and the European Commission of the planned temporary reintroduction of border controls for a period of six months. He said it was necessary because of the high level of terrorist threats in the EU, Portfolio reports.

Currently, the government extends border controls under Article 28 of the Schengen Borders Code for up to two months, until 21 December. After that, Slovenia will carry out border checks under Articles 25 and 27 of the Code, which allows internal border checks for up to six months, Poklukar explained.

“I hope that the terror threat level will decrease and we can lift the measures, but for the time being, we are doing everything we can to ensure the security of Slovenia,”

he said.

Portfolio wrote that the Minister also assured that people living along the border will not notice anything of the measure. “We do not want long queues and traffic stoppages at the former border crossing points,” he stressed.

Slovenia first reintroduced border controls on 21 October, setting up 14 checkpoints on its borders, 12 on the Croatian border and two on the Hungarian border. EU citizens can use all border crossing points, while citizens from other countries can only cross the border at these 14 points.

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Special border gendarmerie will be introduced in Hungary?

Gendarmerie military Hungarian Defence Forces (Copy)

László Toroczkai, leader of the opposition Mi Hazánk party, has called for the military to be dispatched to “rein in people-smuggling gangs at the Hungary-Serbia border” and for a special border gendarmerie to be introduced.

Speaking at a demonstration held at Ásotthalom, in which supporters of his party blocked a lane on the road to the local border-crossing station, Toroczkai said the army should be called in immediately to take action against armed gangs. He said such a measure could be facilitated by Hungary’s emergency measures, and noted that the army had been dispatched in 2015 “when as yet there were no people smugglers with guns”.

Toroczkai demanded a “real border seal”, adding that border control would require dedicated military border guards “able to protect the border fence”, especially in the Ásotthalom-Mórahalom-Röszke area, “the main migration route”, he said.

Toroczkai also said the government should make rules more stringent and “treat as criminals those that damage the fence and cross into Hungary rather than escorting them back to the border, allowing them to try again within a few hours”.

Read also:

  • Collapsing Schengen: strict control at Hungarian Schengen border remains in effect longer – Read more HERE
  • Hamas, ISIS, Al-Kaida terrorists, arms come to Hungary – Details in THIS article

Romania Schengen accession priority for Hungary, foreign minister says

szíjjártó and hunor kelemen

A major objective of Hungary’s EU presidency in the second half of 2024 will be to move ahead Romania’s integration with the community’s borderless Schengen zone, unless progress is made on the matter before, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Bucharest on Wednesday, after talks with the leader of the ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party.

The ministry said in a statement that after meeting Hunor Kelemen, Szijjártó highlighted the strategic importance of the two countries’ bilateral cooperation which he said rested on ethnic Hungarians living in Translyvania and Szekler Land.

The Hungarian government sees that community as a resource as well as a link in bilateral ties, Szijjártó said, pointing out the importance of listening to RMDSZ on issues concerning cooperation with Romania.

Romania’s earliest possible Schengen integration is in Hungary’s national interest, partly because the neighbouring country is Hungary’s second largest exports market, and bilateral economic and trade ties could be strengthened with its membership, the foreign minister said.

“Romania’s Schengen membership would allow that the border should connect rather than separate us,” Szijjártó said, noting that a potential “automatic” opening of ten new border crossings would also help the Transylvanian Hungarian community in maintaining relations with Hungary.

“Unless Romania’s Schengen integration materialises sooner, one of the major objectives of the Hungarian EU presidency will be to help the process and Hungary will continue to run the closest possible consultation with RMDSZ on the matter,” Szijjártó added.

He expressed hope for RMDSZ’s success at the four elections coming up in Romania next year. “RMDSZ’s strong representation in Bucharest is always helpful in developing Hungarian-Romanian relations,” Szijjártó said.

Read more news on Schengen:

  • Collapsing Schengen? Strict control at Hungarian Schengen border remains in effect longer – read more HERE.
  • Another neighbouring country hermetically closed Schengen border – details HERE.

Collapsing Schengen: strict control at Hungarian Schengen border remains in effect longer

Schengen border control Slovenia

It has become official: Slovenia’s reestablished border control on the Hungarian-Slovenian border will remain in effect longer than thought before.

According to portfolio.hu, the Slovenian government decided on their Friday session to keep strict border control in effect on the Croatian and Hungarian border. Hungary’s Western neighbour reestablished control on 21 October for only ten days, which can be extended for a maximum of two months. The new deadline is 19 November. In practice, that means strict border control will be in effect on the Slovenian-Hungarian border for at least one month.

The Ljubljana government explained that the reason behind the drastic measure is the Middle Eastern and Ukrainian security situation. They believe the ongoing wars in the two regions can destabilise safety and public order in the European Union. Another pack of arguments include the terror attacks committed recently in some Western European countries.

Third-country citizens in trouble

On 2 November, the Croatian, Italian and Slovenian foreign affairs ministers will meet to discuss the topic of border control in Triest, Italy. Italy informed its neighbours before that they would keep strict border control on the Slovenian-Italian border during winter.

Slovenia created 14 checkpoints on their Croatian and Hungarian borders. 12 is between Slovenia and Croatia, while two are on the 102 km-long Hungarian-Slovenian border.

EU citizens may use all border crossings. However, third-country nationals can only enter Slovenia legally via those 14 checkpoints.

We wrote HERE that Slovakia also reestablished border control on the Slovakian-Hungarian border in early October. Before, they sent 500 soldiers to the border to help it protect against illegal migrants. HERE you may read how many illegal migrants tried to break through Hungary’s Southern border.

Hamas, ISIS, Al-Kaida terrorists, arms come to Hungary

Iranian Christian Hungary migration border control illegal entrants europe

A report has been prepared by the intelligence services concerning the serious consequences of migration which should be made available to all Hungarians, the group leader of ruling Fidesz said in Ásotthalom, near the Serbian border, on Thursday.

“Everybody should see what is going on as regards migration and the terrorist threats posed to Hungary and to the whole continent,” Máté Kocsis said, adding that he would initiate releasing the report to the public.

Bence Rétvári, a state secretary of the interior ministry, cautioned about the activities of people-smuggling networks, which he said were becoming “more and more organised”. “Only this year, they have earned more than one billion euros through their business,” he said.

In a post published later, Kocsis said that terrorists and arms of Hamas, ISIS and Al-Kaida arrive in Hungary on different migrant routes. Therefore, those protecting the Southern borders are real heroes.

Read also:

Hungarian army, police will open fire on illegal migrants?

Hungary Border Fence Migration Illegal

Illegal migrants on Hungary’s southern border should be stopped by granting border guards the authority to open fire, the deputy leader of the radical Mi Hazánk party said on Friday.

“Hungary is a sovereign country with a right to protect its borders,” Dávid Dócs told a press conference. If Frontex, the EU’s border patrol agency, “can’t handle the problem, then member states should do it on their own authority”, he added.

Europe’s migration policy, he said, seemed to be failing as “Islamist students recently made teaching impossible” in schools in Germany and France. A teacher was stabbed in Germany and two Swedish tourists killed in Belgium, he added.

Dócs said migration pressure on Europe since 2015 seemed to be peaking, insisting that in some districts of European cities “native citizens can’t even enter”.

The EU leadership’s rhetoric on “redefining migration policy” had, he said, lost all credibility, as had the Hungarian opposition, which voted in favour of the resettlement quotas, he added.

Read also:

  • The Hungarian government believes that the EU would like to settle illegal migrants. Read our article HERE
  • Slovenia introduces border controls at Hungarian border – it is in effect from today, details in THIS article

End of Schengen? Another neighbouring country introduced border control from this midnight

Slovenia border control

The border control on the Slovenian-Hungarian border entered into effect this midnight and will last for at least ten days. That is what the Hungarian News Agency (MTI) wrote based on the information from the local press.

According to the MTI, Ljubljana decided to reestablish border control despite Hungary and Slovenia being members of the Schengen Zone because of the Israeli-Palestinian war. They said their law enforcement authorities found evidence that organised crime is rising in the Western Balkans. Furthermore, different terrorist and extreme movements are leaving the conflict zones to evade the consequences of their actions. They head towards Europe to harm safety and stability there.

As a result, Slovenia created 14 checkpoints on the Hungarian-Slovenian and Croatian-Slovenian border. Two will operate between Hungary and Slovenia. EU citizens are allowed to use all border crossings, but third-country nationals can enter Slovenia only at those 14 checkpoints.

We wrote HERE that Hungary’s MOL may acquire the Slovenian oil company OMV Slovenija. Meanwhile, in THIS article, you may check out details and photos of a new Hungarian children’s centre in Slovenia.

Slovakia introduced border control on the Hungarian-Slovakian border due to illegal migration on 5 October. At first, the end date was 14 October, but they prolonged it until 2 November.

Orbán administration: illegal migration = terrorism

Illegal migration Hungary borders

Hungary and several other countries in central Europe dare to say openly what certain western European countries do not, which is that if illegal migration increases, the threat of terrorism in Europe also increases, the interior ministry’s state secretary said on Thursday in Luxembourg on the sidelines of a meeting of EU interior ministers.

Bence Rétvári told Hungarian journalists that no tangible steps had been taken in the protection of the EU’s external borders and the EU only made the activities of people smugglers easier by “an automatic acceptance of migrants”, quotas and its migration pact.

“This may increase the terrorist threat in Europe, too,” he said. The only solution, he added, was to protect the external borders and require decisions on asylum applications to be taken outside EU territory, Retvari said, adding that “there is no other solution, no other way”.

Read also:

  • Slovenia introduces border controls at Hungarian border
  • Government’s stance on migration vindicated by Brussels shooting

BREAKING: Slovenia introduces border controls at Hungarian border

Border control

Due to the terrorist threats in major European cities, Slovenia has also decided to suspend the Schengen agreement and introduce border controls at the Hungarian and Croatian borders.

Border controls in Slovenia

Slovenian Interior Minister Bostjan Poklukar confirmed to N1 television that Slovenia will suspend the Schengen agreement. As a result, border controls will be introduced at the Hungarian and Croatian borders.

The Hungarian and Croatian interior ministers were informed of the announcement. The Slovenian government may approve the measure on Thursday, which will later be sent to the European Commission.

Like Italy, the measure is justified by the growing terrorist threat in Europe. “We see what happened in France and Belgium. Slovenia is no exception,” Poklukar warned. The start date for border controls is still in question, and talks are still ongoing with the EU Commission.

The Slovenian minister said that they are trying to guarantee Slovenia’s security and want to have the least problems for border crossers.

Terror threat in Europe

Recently, two people were killed and one injured in Brussels before a football match. The incident has raised the terror alert to its highest level since 2016. A teacher was stabbed to death in France over the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Shortly afterwards, bomb threats were made at the Louvre and Versailles.

The Counter-Terrorism Coordination Committee has also met in Hungary. In the Committee’s view, the information on terrorism and terrorist acts in the framework of operational and partner cooperation between law enforcement agencies does not justify a change of the medium terror level in Hungary, which has been in place since March 2016.

Slovakia has also introduced border controls due to illegal immigrants. The Hungarian-Slovak border is currently closed until 3 November, index.hu reports.

Orbán government: Parallel societies, terror, modern anti-Semitism in West Europe

Migrants and locals in Italy

The international community “must finally draw a clear distinction” between refugees and migrants as this would go far in solving “the migration crisis”, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in Geneva on Monday.

The dual pressure Hungary is under from the east and south illustrates the need to distinguish clearly between refugees and migrants, Szijjártó told a meeting of the executive committee of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), according to a ministry statement.

The distinction is based on international law, which grants everyone the right to stay in the first safe country if forced to flee their country. However, they do not have the right to “cross a dozen safe coutries” until they arrive in the location of their choosing, he said.

Hungary has seen over one million refugees arriving from Ukraine since the war started, and has ensured equal access to health care and education to all, and is helping them to find jobs, he said.

At the same time, the situation on the country’s southern border “is outrageous”, because those arriving there crossed several safe countries while violating international law, he said. “They also want to enter Hungary illegally, which is a crime,” he added.

Read also:

Migrants would flood Hungary

Last year, Hungary recorded 275,000 illegal attempts to cross the border, and 150,000 so far this year, he said.

Further, some people smugglers and migrants, he said, were now armed with automatic weapons and had fired at border guards several times. “This cannot be tolerated; just like the statements of certain politicians that we should put up with it,” he said.

Migration waves are fuelled in Europe by measures that encourage people to leave their countries, boost the “business model” of people smugglers and force sovereign countries to give up their right to decide who they want to allow into the country, Szijjártó said.

Instead, the focus should be on handling the root causes of migration and on creating the circumstances for people to stay in their homelands, he said.

Mandatory redistribution quotas would turn the European Union into a “magnet” for migrants, he warned. “And we all know the consequences. Parallel societies emerge, the terror threat rises, and modern anti-Semitism is growing in the western half of Europe,” he said.

Szijjártó said that whereas all refugees deserved help — “just as Hungary does as a first safe country” — migrants must be stopped.

Hungarian border guards will get permission to shoot on migrants?

Hungarian border guards will get permission to shoot migrants

There is anarchy at the Hungarian-Serbian border, different migrant gangs took control and regularly opened fire on the Hungarian border guards. Police got an order that they should flee, provided they are under fire. Therefore, we should acknowledge that the current system does not work, so Hungarian armed forces should return fire, according to a Hungarian opposition party.

László Toroczkai, the head of Mi Hazánk, the second-third biggest opposition party in Hungary, talked about that in yesterday’s plenary session of the Hungarian Parliament. He said that human smugglers should be put into prisons instead of releasing them, while migrants should be placed in closed camps.

Bence Rétvári, the interior ministry’s secretary, did not reply to Mi Hazánk’s radical initiative. He said that creating such camps would mean that Hungarian authorities must register migrants in Hungary, so the country should take responsibility for them, infostart.hu wrote.

Read also:

Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, said yesterday in Geneva that some people smugglers and migrants were armed with automatic weapons and had fired at the Hungarian border guards several times. “This cannot be tolerated; just like the statements of certain politicians that we should put up with it,” he said.

Featured image: illustration

BREAKING: Slovakia reinstates border control at Hungarian border from tomorrow

border-Hungary-slovakia-police

Slovakia decided to temporarily reintroduce controls on Slovakia’s internal border with Hungary. Border controls will be in place from Thursday 5 October until 14 October.

The Slovak government decided on Wednesday to temporarily reintroduce controls on Slovakia’s internal border with Hungary, Paraméter reports. The temporary border controls will be in place from Thursday, 5 October, until 14 October. The 10-day measure may be extended.

“The checks will be carried out along the entire length of Slovakia’s internal border with Hungary, in a flexible manner depending on the current threat and the evolution of the security situation,”

the document presented by the Interior Ministry says.

The aim of the measure is to reduce the number of illegal migrants trying to reach other EU countries through Slovakia.

On 3 October, both Poland and the Czech Republic introduced temporary controls at their borders with Slovakia in response to increasing migratory pressure. The Slovak government may have reacted by reintroducing Hungarian border controls, Telex writes.

The measure will last for ten days for the time being, but can be extended.

Read also:

VIDEO: Corrupt border policemen caught by Hungarian Counter Terrorism Centre

corrupt border policemen CTC

The prosecutor’s office is investigating the crime of accepting bribes in violation of official duties. Two border policemen were questioned as suspects. The office has successfully moved for their arrest.

Investigation

Hvg.hu reported that the Investigating Prosecutor’s Office started an investigation in connection with corruption offences. Criminal operations were carried out at several locations, at the border crossing points of Ártánd and Nagykereki, on the 19th of September. Two border police officers were detained.

According to the well-founded suspicion, the two officers were on passport duty at the border crossing in Ártánd last October, when a lorry with German registration plates reported for exit at 11 PM. The driver handed over the documents to the border police officer who, after pulling the lorry over, said that he had found so many deficiencies in the vehicle’s documents that the driver would have to pay a fine of approximately EUR 4,000.

Then, the officer suggested that “it could be solved with just EUR 1,500”.

Forcing the driver to pay

The driver disputed any irregularities with the truck or crossing the border, so he refused to pay. He said that he only had EUR 500 anyway. As it seems, the border police officer would have been satisfied with that money, but the driver refused to hand it over initially. The border police officer repeatedly said that he and his colleague would only allow him to cross into Romania if he paid. Thus, they tried to force the driver into paying the bribe. The driver was kept waiting without action for a long time.

Corrupt border police officers

After almost two hours, the driver and his passenger handed over EUR 300 and HUF 70,000 (EUR 180) to the border police officer, even though there was no legal basis for detaining them and imposing a fine. After the official was not satisfied with the amount, they handed over RON 200 (EUR 40) too. The border policemen then allowed the car to cross the border but did not record the specified crossing data in the register.

The prosecution ordered the two perpetrators to be detained, questioned them as suspects and successfully moved for their arrest. The defendants and their defence lawyers appealed against the order of the Military Council of the Debrecen General Court.

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