Representatives of Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey will receive invitations to attend a conference on illegal migration to be held in Hungary in the autumn, the Hungarian foreign minister said. Representatives of European Union member states and institutions will attend alongside the seven non-EU countries, Péter Szijjártó said after holding bilateral talks with his Luxembourg counterpart, Jean Asselborn. Szijjártó also said that non-EU countries might be asked to host EU stations on their territory to screen migrants’ eligibility for refugee status.

The plan could significantly reduce the migration burden on Hungary, he said, noting that the latest data shows that just below 73,000 illegal migrants had come to Hungary this year, the vast majority via Serbia. “It is a heightened interest of Hungary’s that Europe should find joint responses to illegal migration as quickly as possible,” he said. Szijjártó said it had been a big struggle to get the acknowledgement that there is greater migration pressure through the western Balkans than via the Mediterranean. “The EU has to deal with this separately.” The EU should offer major development funding to countries which are the main sources of illegal migration, he argued.

Meanwhile Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party said it wanted amendments just passed by parliament on tightening Hungary’s asylum system to be signed into law as quickly as possible. Hungary’s authorities would then be able to get on with implementation, spokesman Bence Tuzson said, noting that the new legislation adopted on Monday allows for fast-tracking the asylum procedure and ensures fast construction of the fence along the Hungarian-Serbian border. Parliamentary Speaker László Kövér has already sent the legislation to President János Áder to be signed, he said. However, the amendments have been criticized harshly both by the left-wing opposition and international organisations.

via hungarymatters.hu and MTI photo: Zoltán Balogh – MTI