Hungarian Interior Minister Sándor Pintér and Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic reopened the Röszke-Horgos road border crossing station on Thursday.
Mr Pintér said that with the reopening of the old Röszke border crossing station, all road border crossing stations between Hungary and Serbia are operational. The Hungarian Interior Minister reiterated that illegal migrants attempted to break into the territory of Hungary at this border crossing station on 16 September. This attempt was successfully foiled with joint efforts, and the damage caused in the attempt has been repaired.
He highlighted: Hungary and Serbia are doing their utmost to prevent the attack of illegal migrants from reaching Western-Europe, but the key to the solution does not lie with these two countries. “We are doing our best to have our laws enforced, and to meet the expectations of the European Union”, Mr Pintér stressed.
The Röszke-Horgos road border crossing station may be used by traffic prohibited from the motorway, i.e. slow vehicles, agricultural machinery, cyclists and pedestrians. The Hungarian Interior Minister said: they are working on a solution that would also permit passenger cars to use the border crossing station.
In answer to a question, Mr Pintér said that, if necessary, Hungary will permit trains transporting illegal migrants towards Greece and Turkey to cross its territory. Should the need arise, the Hungarian railway company MÁV would even make carriages available for the purpose. He added: he sees no scope, however, for opening a corridor in the opposite direction.
Mr Stefanovic pointed out that the migration crisis continues to persist. Migrants are attempting to reach Western-Europe via the same routes. Serbia is therefore expecting more effective cooperation from the larger EU Member States. It is impossible that the transit countries should take on the largest share of the burden, he added. The Minister highlighted: despite every challenge, Serbia is attempting to maintain its good neighbourly relations at the highest possible level.
It is extremely important that the population should not suffer from the consequences of the crisis, and that the international transit routes traversing Serbia and Hungary should remain open at all times, Mr Stefanovic stressed.