Minister of the Interior Sándor Pintér (right) and Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner (left) shake hands at their joint press conference
At the press conference, Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér emphasized that police cooperation is outstanding within the framework of the good cooperation between the two countries.
He added that Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to the Schengen area was discussed as being made possible by Hungarian, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Austrian police officers jointly protecting the border.
The Minister of the Interior also mentioned that Austria had changed its Hungarian-Austrian border control practices with the aim of screening out illegal migrants. The change speeds up border crossings for Hungarian commuters and ensures that illegal migration does not start in this area in the future, he added.
Minister Sándor Pintér reported that the police control system introduced on trains departing for Germany, in which Austrian, German, and Hungarian police officers participate, will be maintained.
The Minister of the Interior mentioned that the border traffic agreement had been amended.
Gerhard Karner emphasized at the press conference that the two countries have many common goals and measures. He stressed that the most important thing for both countries is to be able to guarantee the security of our countries.
He added that Austria is working with Hungary to combat illegal migration and would like to reduce it to the lowest possible level. They support the idea of pushing illegal immigrants back outside the European Union and processing their applications in centers set up there.
Speaking about the changes introduced in border control, he said that the essence of these changes is that checks are not carried out directly along the borders between Austria and its neighboring countries, but rather in a buffer zone that has been established for this purpose. This makes life easier for commuters, but more difficult for human traffickers, he emphasized.
The Austrian Minister of the Interior spoke about the intensive cooperation between the police forces of the two countries and recalled that Austrian and Hungarian police officers are working together at the Serbian-Hungarian, North Macedonian-Serbian, and Bulgarian-Turkish borders to make the borders more secure.
Minister of the Interior Sándor Pintér (right) and Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner (left) at their joint press conference. Photo: MTI/Kocsis Zoltán
Speaking about the success of cooperation between the two countries, he said that
three years ago, 1,730 illegal border crossings were recorded at the Austrian-Hungarian border, and almost as many asylum applications were submitted at the border, now only four such illegal border crossings have been recorded, and no one has applied for asylum.
In its summary of the meeting, the Ministry of the Interior wrote that Hungary considers Austria a key political and economic partner and ally, and that cooperation between the two countries is essential in key areas such as curbing migration and supporting the EU accession of the Western Balkans. The aim of the current meeting was to further deepen bilateral law enforcement relations and coordinate responses to common security challenges.
An amendment to the 2014 agreement on border crossing points on the common state border and cooperation in border traffic control was signed at the meeting, with the aim of improving mobility between the regions by incorporating newly built road connections.
As part of this, new international/regional border crossing points will be established between Szentgotthárd-Rábakeresztúr (M80-S7) and Kőszeg-Rőtfalva. Among others, Sopronkövesd-Füles, Zsira-Füles, Vaskeresztes-Csejke and Szentpéterfa-Pinkakertes will become official border crossing points, and the list will be supplemented by the Sarród-Pomogy cycle path for bicycle traffic.
Fact
Hungary took over the presidency of the Salzburg Forum in 2026, and the next ministerial conference will be held on March 9-10 in Egerszalók, where the future of law enforcement training and strengthening the role of Europol will be key topics.
Via MTI; Featured photo: MTI/Zoltán Kocsis
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