Chief Security Advisor György Bakondi said Hungary could see more refugees crossing its border from Ukraine following Russia’s missile attack on a train station in Transcarpathia on Tuesday.
Speaking on M1 television on Wednesday, Bakondi said that the Russian attacks on western European and US weapons deliveries to Ukraine were likely to continue. This could result in even more people fleeing “the places in Transcarpathia that appear to be temporarily safe” to Hungary, he said. If this happens, Hungary will do everything to make sure that the refugees receive the same level of accommodation, care and assistance as those who have arrived so far, he said. Turning to the issue of illegal immigration, Bakondi said the Hungarian authorities have this year apprehended more than 61,000 illegal migrants at the southern border, adding that some 31,000 illegal border crossers had been caught by this time last year. He said both human smuggling activity and the number of illegal migrants attempting to enter Hungary had doubled since 2021.
Photo credit: Polyák Attila - Origo