Chief Security Advisor György Bakondi said the Hungarian authorities apprehended nearly 122,000 illegal entrants and over 1,200 people smugglers last year. He noted that 45,000 entered Hungary illegally in 2020.
Speaking to Kossuth Radio, Bakondi said that in the first days of January alone, 860 border violators have been detained. “Migration routes into Europe continue to be busy,” he said, adding that “the countries protecting the European Union’s external borders” were under enormous pressure. In 2021 a new migration route via Belarus and Poland emerged, he noted, calling this “a grave development”. He also warned that many Afghan, Indian and Pakistani migrants were on their way to Europe via Turkey.
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