Hungary's interior minister has said that security had grown in the past two years but efforts must be made to maintain that level of security.
Sándor Pintér made the remarks to members of the ministerial conference of the Salzburg Forum held in Budapest on Tuesday. The group discussed issues around migration, border control and security.
The Salzburg Forum partnership was launched on an Austrian initiative in 2000 and its members are Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
According to MTI, participants agreed that protection of the external borders of the European Union should be strengthened, while data on migrants entering the bloc should be updated, monitored and shared among the forum’s partners without delay.
They agreed that the forum’s members would help each other if need be in border protection operations under the coordination of Frontex, the EU’s border protection agency. The participants also agreed to support dispatching Frontex units in Serbia and Macedonia.
Minister Pintér said that the Austrian partner had put forward an action plan, which members hope can be adopted under the forum’s upcoming Polish presidency.
He added that countries of that group are considered as safe states according to the European Union’s criteria.