Hungary’s Chief Security Advisor has confirmed that migration has increased along the Balkan migration route.
According to the latest statistics from the National Police Headquarters, the number of people apprehended each week along the Hungarian-Serbian border is currently two hundred, following an average of one hundred in the previous period.
“This clearly indicates that the claims deriving from left-wing liberal circles according to which ‘there is no migration and there’s no point wasting time on the issue’ are untrue,” György Bakondi said.
According to MTI, Bakondi added that the main direction along the Balkan migration route is currently Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia, from where illegal immigrants breaking away from the main group are also attempting to enter the EU via the Hungarian border. Their citizenship make-up has also changed: while in 2017 the immigrants arriving were fundamentally of Syrian and Iraqi nationality, these days they are primarily from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, he added.
“Experiences so far this year indicate that the movement of prospective illegal border crossers is automatically increasing with the onset of the summer period,” he noted.
The Chief Security Advisor also spoke about the fact that the increase in activity along the Balkan migration route is linked to the tightening of border controls along the Spain-Morocco route. “This year, the Moroccan authorities have stopped 30,000 illegal African immigrants and eliminated 6,000 people smuggling organizations, and it is currently on the agenda that in addition to Spain, the European Union should also help finance border protection in the county,” Bakondi concluded.
Photo credit: MTI