Explaining the reasons behind the decision, the Minister of Interior said that “we must learn the lessons from [the attacks in] Brussels, and it is clear to us that security measures must be enhanced”. The Ministry of Justice have received his ministry’s proposals, on the basis of which they will prepare the draft text, he said.
The Ministry of Interior will have the task of conducting preliminary discussions with parliamentary parties, Mr. Pintér explained, adding that parts of the Cabinet’s proposal require a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The Ministry would like to have the proposed legislation prepared by April; they will ask Parliament for an accelerated procedure. In response to a question, he said that the amendment will affect the Fundamental Law in the area of defence, while the Act on Police, the Act on National Security and the Penal Code would also need to be amended. In the case of the last of these, the Cabinet wishes to increase certain penalties.
Mr. Pintér said that the proposals aim for developments in the fields of staffing, technical equipment and assets. Furthermore, the Cabinet would like to strengthen the Counter Terrorism Centre and ensure a smooth flow of information. Talking about the latter goal, Mr. Pintér said that the Government has also decided to establish a counter-terrorism information and criminal investigation centre. The task of this centre will be to use expert knowledge to analyse and evaluate available information, and to support national security and police organisations in their work by warning them of potential security events, he explained.
The Minister of Interior also said that the Cabinet is planning legislation in which court rulings could require private service providers to decrypt data transmission equipment confiscated by the Service for National Security.
Mr. Pintér said that the Cabinet would also want to monitor flows of money, occasionally even by looking into bank accounts. In response to a question, he added that current legislation also provides for this to be done retrospectively, but the Cabinet would like authorisation to continuously monitor bank accounts in certain cases.
He said that another objective is to ensure that police units, ambulances and hospitals have certain priority rights in telephone communication. In this regard there are two possible approaches: expanding the unified digital radio system currently used by police and disaster relief bodies; and – in certain cases – limiting public access to text messaging. In response to a question, he explained that the latter would be to prevent an overload of the system which would limit the capabilities of the emergency services. However, the technical requirements for such a solution must be discussed with the phone companies, he added.
Referring to the attacks in Brussels, Minister of Defence István Simicskó stressed that a new security situation has emerged: we are living in an era of “hybrid warfare”, and the Hungarian Defence Forces are seeking to carry out their tasks in order to ensure the safety of Hungary’s citizens. Explaining the proposed constitutional amendment, he said that the Hungarian Defence Forces possess skills which they are using to fight terrorism around the globe – for example in Afghanistan. However, current Hungarian legislation does not allow them to do so at home. This is why the Cabinet would like to grant the Hungarian Defence Forces the right to support the work of police forces, Mr. Simicskó explained.
He emphasised that it is important for opposition parties to re-evaluate the situation from a security perspective, and he expressed the hope that the Cabinet will receive authorisation to amend the Fundamental Law.
Minister Pintér reiterated his condolences to the families of the victims of the Brussels attacks, and wished a quick recovery to those injured, who include two Hungarian diplomats. He declared that the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels have put an end to the dispute on whether the threat of terrorism has in fact increased in the European Union, and whether illegal migration and terrorism are related. He said that some of those who participated in the terrorist attacks had arrived through Europe’s green borders along with the migrants, and others were born into migrant families and took part in the organisation of the attacks as EU citizens.
He emphasised that earlier EU security experts and Europol had drawn attention to a possible increase in the threat of terrorism from mass migration across green borders. He said that Europol has identified about five to six thousand people who can be linked to acts of terrorism in some way. According to the German secret services, one in every one hundred migrants could participate in an act of terrorism. Hungary recognised this threat and took the decision to close its green borders, he noted.
Referring to Austrian media reports that Salah Abdeslam – one of the main organisers of the Paris attacks last November – was sighted in Sopron two months ago, Mr. Pintér said that Hungarian authorities are using the Austrian reports to investigate who was indeed in Hungary, what their motives were and whether they crossed green borders.
(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister)
