The Serbian, Austrian and Hungarian interior ministers agreed on close cooperation on Tuesday in Budapest in the interest of curbing the extreme migration pressure affecting their countries. The ministers laid down their agreement in a memorandum of understanding.
Austrian Minister of the Interior Johanna Mikl-Leitner told the press: the most important elements of the cooperation extend to joint border control and the reinforcement of joint investigation teams set up to fight human trafficking, while the parties will also seek to involve the competent agencies of the European Union to the fullest possible extent.
The Austrian minister said that the Austrian-Hungarian cooperation had proved to be successful, and she specifically made mention of the situation of migrants from Kosovo whose numbers have decreased significantly. The Minister cited as an example that while Kosovars submitted around 500 asylum requests a day in Austria last year, only 10 to 20 requests are received today. She said: we have succeeded in stopping this wave of migration, and she thanked her Hungarian and Serbian counterparts for their effective assistance.
The Minister highlighted: we must cooperate and coordinate our efforts, and to this end, it is necessary to reinforce the Hungarian-Austrian axis with Serbia as a prospective EU Member State.
Joint patrol services will be stepped up both on the Serbian-Hungarian and the Serbian-Macedonian borders, she said. The Minister added: Austria has offered to send 80 policemen to the Serbian-Hungarian border section instead of the earlier 40, and will additionally also assist the joint border control effort with thermal imaging cameras and coaches.
The Austrian Minister further announced that they are going to seek assistance from the European Commission, primarily in the form of financial support. They will also request the Commission not to focus its attention solely on the Mediterranean route as the flood of migrants coming from the Balkans now surpasses the wave of migrants coming to Europe by sea.
Regarding the situation in Austria, the Minister said: her country has reached the limits of its capacity. They are required to take care of more than 40,000 people, 250 to 300 new asylum requests are submitted every day, and according to projections, this number will increase to 70,000 in total by the end of the year. She said: Austria has become a number one target country. Refugees fleeing war zones must be supported, but it is important and necessary to curb this flood of migration, the Minister highlighted.
Serbian Minister of Internal Affairs Nebojsa Stefanovic stressed: his country would like to join the European Union, and will make every effort to make progress towards this goal. Serbia takes its share of the burden of migration: they have deployed joint border patrol services with the Hungarian forces on the Serbian-Macedonian border. On the border section which is crossed by migrants in the largest numbers they also receive assistance from Germany, and they likewise cooperate with the Bulgarians, he said.
The Minister pointed out: they are aware of the fact that the majority of migrants come from conflict zones, but it is the duty of Serbia to protect its own borders and the external borders of the Schengen Area. He said: the number of migrants traversing Serbia has increased some three- to four-fold compared with last year, which imposes a grave burden on the country’s economy. He added: also at present, there are more than 220,000 migrants in the country.
Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér stated: we are observing a modern-age mass migration flow; 67,000 persons applied for refugee status by midnight on Monday. He added: Hungary’s social care system has reached its limits, many migrants can only be accommodated in tents and shipping containers, or at times only outdoors. The Minister remarked: migrants living in the camps are becoming increasingly malcontent, he said in reference to the conflict which emerged at the Debrecen reception station on Monday in which several individuals were detained due to vandalism.
The Minister of Interior thanked his Serbian and Austrian counterparts for their cooperation, and said that already last Sunday the Hungarian police force directed four manned vehicles equipped with thermal imaging cameras to the Serbian-Macedonian border.
He stressed, however, that further action is required; among other measures, the Home Affairs Commissioner of the European Union must be kept informed, and the budget of the EU border protection agency Frontex must be reinforced. The Minister pointed out that it is also important to review the situation with the Macedonian minister of interior.
In answer to a question – What would happen if Hungary declared Serbia a safe third country? –, Serbian Minister of Internal Affairs Nebojsa Stefanovic said that Serbia is a safe country in every respect. He added: migrants vary, some of them arrive regularly by using border-crossing stations, while others cross the green border; there are economic migrants and there are migrants who come from war zones. “We cannot afford to allow economic migrants to abuse the right to free travel. It is not only Hungary that wishes to send people who attempt to enter its territory illegally back to Serbia, but we, too, would like to turn these people back to Macedonia and Greece”, the Minister said. At the same time, he mentioned that the question of regular migration will also be discussed at the Wednesday joint meeting of the Serbian and Hungarian governments.
Also in answer to a question, Mr Pintér said in the context of the possible employment of migrants in public works schemes: no one will take the public works opportunities away from Hungarians. He added that Hungary is not the only country in the European Union where the idea emerged that migrants spending longer periods in refugee camps should do useful work to earn their keep. Useful, valuable work also promotes integration, he added.