The government takes the opinions of people living in border localities seriously and places particular importance on their safety, government officials said after meeting mayors in the border region of western Hungary on Saturday. The government has three primary objectives, Károly Kontrát, parliamentary state secretary of the Interior Ministry, told a press conference. Noting the recent rise in the number of infections, he said it aims to safeguard the elderly and schools while ensuring the continuous functioning of the economy. Restricting entry to the country is a key line of defence when it comes to protecting the health of Hungarians, he added. At the same time, he said it was important for the government to understand the views of people living in localities near the border.
István Nagy, the Minister of Agriculture, noted that thanks to a recent government decision, people living within a 30-km radius of the border can now cross the Hungarian-Austrian border unimpeded every day in order to get to work or use services, he noted. Nagy also noted that on Friday the government decided to allow travel to Hungary for economic purposes as long as people were in possession of a negative PCR test, and tests carried out abroad would be acceptable. From Saturday, the customs Austria-Hungary border will be open 24 hours a day, he said.