“There are alarming reports arriving from the Western Balkans, where migration pressure is equal to, or in certain instances exceeds the level experienced in 2015, and where new migration routes are being established, and accordingly Hungary is prepared to assist Montenegro so it can defend itself from the waves of illegal immigration”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared in a telephone statement to Hungarian news agency MTI on Monday from Podgorica.

The Minister stressed that the alarming news is primarily arriving from Turkey and Greece, and in several instances reports from Greece are stating that the situation is worse than it was in 2015.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister held talks with his Montenegrin counterpart on the increasing migration pressure, which in contrast to the wave of migration of three years ago is now also being applied to Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia-Hercegovina. During the meeting, Foreign Minister Srdjan Darmanović explained that the Montenegrin Government is ready to defend its own country from the wave of illegal immigration. “Hungary is providing assistance towards this in view of the fact that it is also in Budapest’s interests for Montenegro to successfully defend its borders”, Mr. Szijjártó explained. “In the interests of border protection, our heads of police have already agreed to supply Podgorica with 25 kilometres of border fence to enable the defence of the most vulnerable stretch of the Montenegrin-Albanian border and succeed in stopping the wave of illegal immigration”, he added.

Mr. Szijjártó drew attention to the fact that it would represent a major security risk for Hungary if the first barrier against a new wave of immigration was the border security fence constructed along the Hungarian-Serbian and Hungarian-Croatian borders. “It is in our interests for the governments of the Western Balkans to be as stable and committed as possible, and for these countries to be led by people who are prepared to also protect their own borders, because if this is the case then we will succeed in maintaining stability in the Western Balkans, and Hungary’s southern border will not be the first line of defence that protects Hungary and Europe”, he underlined.

“The people of Montenegro can continue to count on Hungary’s committed support not only with relation to their European integration process, but also during the course of border defence measures. Hungary is prepared to provide all possible assistance to Montenegro, and to the other countries affected, in the interests of enabling it to protect its own border”, he added. The Hungarian Foreign Minister pointed out that Budapest has already been provided all possible assistance to countries that have requested it, and for instance Hungarian police are on duty in 30-man shifts along the Macedonian-Greek border, and Hungary has previously also sent police to Serbia and Slovenia to assist in border protection.

During the course of the day, Mr. Szijjártó will be meeting with Speaker of Montenegrin Parliament Ivan Brajović, Prime Minister Duško Marković, and President Milo Đukanović, with whom he will also be discussing the most important issues relating to the migration crisis.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)