“The number of Consuls is being increased by eighty, most of whom will be deployed in Western Europe”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade told reporters on Thursday in Budapest.

Péter Szijjártó also informed the press that that the father of the young man who died recently in an accident, had arrived in Italy.

“Successful negotiations on the part of the Hungarian authorities mean he will only have to appear once before the Italian authorities and will be provided with an interpreter and all other necessary assistance”, he said.

“According to our information the father has agreed to allow the Italian authorities to complete the autopsy on his son, which speeds up the required processes in such cases”, he added.

“Italian police are conducting an investigation into the cause of the accident, with the involvement of other official bodies”, he added.

In Georgia, one of four Hungarian hikers was hit in the head by a rock that fell as a result of glacial melting. Doctors were unable to save his life”, Mr. Szijjártó told the press.

“The members of the group were hikers, not mountaineers, and all four of them had registered for consular protection”, he said, adding that the required consular assistance will be provided and the Italian authorities have promised that local procedures will not prevent the body from being transported home.

In reply to a question, Mr. Szijjártó said: “During the course of modern history the security situation in Europe has never been as bad as it is now, and the threat of terrorism has never been so high”.

The Foreign Minister asked Hungarian tourists to be particularly careful, to collect preliminary information before travelling and to register themselves with consular services, and to not set off without proper insurance.

(MTI)