Hungary temporarily suspends systemic controls at its borders

The Hungarian government has temporarily suspended the application of the border regulation of the European Union (EU), Hungarian news agency MTI reported Tuesday.

"Because of the EU-imposed border controls, several hours of waiting were formed on some of our border sections, and with the arrival of the summer these queues could become much longer," State secretary of the Ministry of Interior Karoly Kontrat told MTI.

"That is why the Hungarian government deemed necessary to suspend the systemic controls, and would initiate targeted controls instead," he added.

The politician explained that Hungary had doubts about the regulations, and viewed the practice of the last weeks as a trial period.

"The illegal migration threatens one of the EU's most important achievements -- the free movement of EU citizens and the Schengen system," he said.

The Schengen system allows the gradual abolition of checks at the common borders of participating countries, which include all of the EU member states, excluding Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania, but also including non-EU states such as Norway, Switzerland and Iceland.

Brussels should stop bothering EU citizens and start stopping and controlling illegal immigrants and terrorists, according to Kontrat.

The EU introduced the compulsory systemic border controls by the 1st of April, which demands the control of each citizen -- from EU or non-EU countries alike -- at the Schengen borders.

The regulation also states that the member states can refrain from the systemic controls if they are able to prove by risk analysis, that the easing of the controls does not increase the level of the security threat. Endit