“The monies spent on border protection are very obviously being recouped”, Zoltán Kovács said on Hungarian M1 television’s Thursday evening current affairs programme. According to the Government Spokesperson, this is how we can avoid having to spend much more on illegal immigrants, who otherwise have no right to be in the European Union.

For example, Germany is spending billions of euros on caring for, teaching and integrating migrants, he explained.

At his weekly press conference on Thursday in Budapest, Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office János Lázár said that the cabinet had decided to maintain the current state of emergency until 7 September in view of the fact that some 800 thousand people have become trapped in the Balkan region and are unable return to Turkey. This is also one of the reasons for the reinstatement of immigration detainment and the reinforcement of the border security fence, he stressed. The Minister reminded the press that last week the Cabinet had set aside 38 billion forints (EUR 123 million) for this purpose, of which the construction of the second fence by 1 May will cost 28.4 billion forints, the reinforcement of the fences at the two transit zones at Röszke and Tompa will cost 9.4 billion forints, and the two sites will prove accommodation for some four hundred people for the purposes of detaining immigrants.

Mr. Lázár said that the second fence along the Hungarian-Serbian border will be built along some 150 kilometres and enable the border to be monitored using cameras, thermal cameras and other technical equipment. Seven hundred prisoners will take part in the construction of the fence, and the latest expenditure of 38 billion forints means that the total cost of the fence along the southern border is increasing to 284 billion forints (EUR 920 million), he stated.

(MTI)