International meeting held in Hungary to combat illegal migration

Delegates from 13 countries together with the European Union's border control agency Frontex, and its policing arm Europol, met in Budapest on Tuesday to discuss the tasks of managing the migration wave that has been underway for the past year.

Hungarian police chief Karoly Papp gave a keynote address, pointing out that new challenges require new responses. He called for cooperation of various sides.

Hungary, he said, received supports from Polish border control officials and the Slovak police force last year in controlling the border region between Hungary and Serbia, where the majority of asylum-seekers crossed into Hungary last year.

In turn, it had offered assistance to, among others, Serbia, Slovenia, Greece, Bulgaria and Macedonia, the countries along the main migration route into Europe.

Papp called for regulating and controlling the manner by which migrants cross the EU borders in line with the directive issued by the European Council in March. The directive called for the cooperation by all members in the fight against illegal immigration and human trafficking. It was also emphasized that the internal security and order of the EU members must be protected.

Papp noted that the current situation was not conducive to the sense of security of the EU residents.

Over 390,000 migrants passed through Hungary in 2015 on their way to western Europe. Endit