On Wednesday morning György Bakondi, Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, told public television channel M1 that migrants can arrive in Europe along three different routes: through the Balkans, from Egypt and from Libya. Therefore protecting the borders remains important, as the migration crisis is still far from over, he said.

The Chief Security Advisor pointed out that the evaluation of asylum requests on the Greek islands is going rather slowly, and the agreement between the EU and Turkey is “fragile” in a number of respects – including the recent resignation of the Turkish prime minister. One cannot know what measures the new prime minister is planning in the field of migration, or whether he will present the EU with new demands, Mr. Bakondi explained.

The Chief Security Advisor emphasised that in the Schengen 2.0 action plan, the Government of Hungary has already outlined that Europe must be able to protect its external borders: the continent’s security and its economic and social future must not be dependent on the assistance of a single, non-EU country – namely Turkey.

Mr. Bakondi said that, in addition to the Western Balkan route, sea routes from Libya and Egypt are also being “reactivated”, and as summer is approaching it can be assumed that this trend will increase. He added that illegal movement can also be observed on the Spanish-Moroccan border.

Speaking about migrants arriving along the Western Balkan route, Mr. Bakondi said that many people arriving at the Hungarian border are deterred by the Hungarian border protection system, but there are some who are still unaware of how strict Hungarian border protection is. Some are even waiting for the Hungarian borders to be opened, as they are being misinformed by certain people, who – according to the Chief Security Advisor – are not people smugglers.

(MTI)