As well as the EU’s “pro-migration policy”, a global economic recession is under way, coupled with a food crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and EU sanctions, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Belgrade, adding that the number of illegal migrants was expected to grow further and put the borders under even greater pressure. “Hungary continues to see it as a security and criminal issue rather than a human rights one, because breaching the border between two safe countries is a crime,” he said.
Szijjártó praised Hungarian border patrollers for “risking their lives in protecting the Hungarian and European border”. He rejected claims that the officers violated laws as they were protecting the border from illegal migrants.
Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin said Serbia, Hungary and Austria were dealing with the same crisis, which he insisted was not a humanitarian one. The crisis is the result of the activities of organised gangs who violate international regulations and exploit the fate of people in trouble, he said. “Serbia cannot be left alone” in dealing with the crisis, he said, adding that the three countries had become “reliable allies”. Serbia’s priority is the security of its citizens, and so it cannot allow migrants to be “stationed” in the country and disrupt daily life. Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner thanked Serbia for its policies helping the EU. He called for technological cooperation to make border protection and the fight against people smuggling and illegal migration more effective.