“Although Brussels has taken steps to establish a European border and coast guard, it hasn’t yet found a solution for taking effective action against illegal immigrants who arrive in Greece and Italy by sea, and as a result the European Commission has recommended that temporary internal border controls be extended by three months”, the Prime Minister’s Chief Advisor on Homeland Security said on Hungarian M1 public television’s Wednesday morning current affairs programme.

On Tuesday, the European Commission issued a recommendation that the internal border controls temporary reinstated in Austria, Denmark, Sweden and non-EU Member State, but Schengen Member State Norway should be extended for a further three months. According to the information provided by the Brussels body, the conditions are not yet given for the full reinstatement of the operation of the Schengen system, which enables free movement within the European Union.

According to Mr. Bakondi, since migrants are continuing to enter the European Union in an uncontrolled manner via Greece and Italy, the European Commission has decided not to reinforce the protection of these sections of the EU’s border, but to instead maintain internal border controls.

On Kossuth Radio’s “180 Minutes” programme, the Chief Advisor spoke about the fact that Hungary is difficult to avoid due to its geographical location and that despite the various physical barriers and concentration of forces, illegal immigrants continue to cross the border. Several countries in the region have come to the conclusion that the situation is fluid and that accordingly the borders of countries that lie along the main migration routes must be reinforced using manpower and/or technical instruments, he said. This includes the construction of a new fence, a "third line of defence” on the Hungarian-Serbian border, he noted.

The “experimental installation” of a new border security fence is currently ongoing along a ten kilometre stretch of the border in Bács-Kiskun County; two technologies are being tested and the technical specification of the new fence will be decided accordingly. For instance, it will be more difficult to cut through the new fence and it will also have new technical capabilities, such as cameras to help identify perpetrators, he indicated.

According to the Chief Security Advisor, the reinforcement of the border security fence is a “forward-looking and responsible decision”, and the Government’s expectation is that the new fence will serve the security of Hungary and Europe even in case of significantly higher migration pressure, and prevent large numbers of illegal immigrants from entering the country’s territory and that of the European Union in an uncontrolled manner.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)