Orbán’s security advisor: The migration situation could worsen in 2017

“Illegal migration will remain a significant issue this year and the situation could in fact worsen in 2017”, the Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister declared.

György Bakondi stressed that the security situation that has developed as a result of migration remains a danger within the European Union and in transit countries, in addition to which the fight against the Islamic State, which is drawing to a close, could also lead to an increased threat of terrorism in Europe.

“In this situation the Hungarian standpoint is firm: the external borders of the European Union must be protected and hotspots for the evaluation of asylum requests must be established outside the EU”, the Chief Advisor added.

Summarising the past year, Mr. Bakondi said that illegal migration is continuing along the Balkan route and from Libya towards Italy. The former has seen some reduction in the number of migrants, while an increase has been observed on the latter route.

“Alternative routes have also developed: towards Bulgaria along the land border between Turkey and Greece, and via Montenegro, Romania and Ukraine. Migration has not reached mass levels along the latter two routes”, he told the press.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/tag/migration/” type=”big” newwindow=”yes”] Read more about MIGRATION[/button]

The Chief Security Advisor continued by listing EU measures that in his view we insufficient to stop illegal migration, including the setting up of a joint EU border and coast guard. Violent crime and acts of terrorism have become more prevalent within the EU, he indicated.

Mr. Bakondi told reporters that according to figures from the United Nations, 361 thousand people arrived in the territory of the European Union last year, 200 thousand in Italy and the rest on the Greek islands.