The Government is doing everything in its power to prevent so-called hotspots from being established in Hungary, because “’this is not the way to handle illegal immigration”, Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács announced on Hungarian M1 television’s Friday morning “Actual Channel” programme.

According to Mr. Kovács, the Government has examined several possibilities and eventually decided against establishing transit zones along the Hungarian border, as proposed earlier.

“There is visible pressure for Hungary to establish so-called hotspots, but it is absolutely clear that this is not the way to handle the situation”, he said.

Naturally, points will be established where migrants who arrive in Hungary can submit their requests for asylum, in addition to which all immigrants will be provided with food and accommodation, Mr. Kovács said.
The Spokesperson stressed that an untenable situation had developed because migrants who have entered the territory y of the European Union are refusing to cooperate with the authorities.

“This untenable state of affairs is not being created by the Hungarian authorities, but by the fact that migrants are not cooperating with them and are not waiting in line to be processed. These migrants do not just lack patience, they are immensely impatient and would like to reach their destinations immediately”, he noted, adding that such behaviour is obviously not tolerated in Western Europe either.

Mr. Kovács said that these people will do everything to reach their desired destinations and recent events had visibly not only caught the Hungarian authorities by surprise, but also the Austrian and German authorities.

“They too are approaching the situation with the same assumption we have: that we will receive at least the most basic and minimal cooperation from illegal immigrants”, such as registering themselves or waiting in line, he said.

According to the Government Spokesperson, some Austrian politicians are calling Hungary to account for regulations that their own states are not conforming to, while “it seems that Hungary is practically the only country along the Western Balkan migration route that is attempting to adhere to fundamental EU regulations, even if these are insufficient to handle the situation”.

Mr. Kovács stressed that the effectiveness of European border control must be re-established, which does not mean closing all borders, only the prevention of illegal migration across the so-called green border.

“It is totally untenable that things are to all intents and purposes now developing according to the wishes of people who arrive here illegally”, the Government Spokesperson declared on Kossuth Radio’s “180 Minutes” programme this morning, adding that the latest wave of immigrants had by now reached Austria.

“Denmark is also starting to expel people who believe they have a right to travel onwards to Sweden while totally disregarding all laws and regulations”, he added, noting that the EU member states of the region had to work long and hard to acquire these freedoms”.

(Prime Minister's Office)