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HUNGARIAN AND AUSTRIAN PATROLS ON SERBIAN BORDERS

2. July 2015.

Belgrade - The interior ministers of Serbia, Austria and Hungary signed yesterday a Memorandum of Understanding by which the three countries agreed on the implementation of joint measures aimed at combating irregular migration. 

According to the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia, the memorandum envisages the establishment of joint investigation teams for detecting smuggling in human beings and the strengthening of joint patrols on the Serbian national borders. 

The Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said that Serbia was obliged to protect its borders, but also to grant asylum to those who meet the requirements for obtaining it.   

Minister Stefanovic pointed out that it had been agreed at the meeting that some of the concrete measures were mixed joint patrols of the Serbian, Hungarian and Austrian police officers at the Serbian-Macedonian border.  

“The number of migrants, in comparison to the last year, increased by three to four times”, Minister Stefanovic said, adding that a strategic decision with concrete measures needed to be reached for solving the problem of irregular migration.  
The Austrian Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner pointed out that to solve this problem, it was necessary to have solidarity between the states, adding that the practice had shown that the trilateral meetings of Austria, Serbia and Hungary provided good solutions.

Stressing that she saw Serbia as a future member of the European Union, Ms. Mikl-Leitner stated that Austria would send a number of police officers with the necessary equipment to Serbia, as well as help the Serbian police to protect the Serbian border. 

The Minister of Internal Affairs of Hungary Sandor Pinter said that good results could be achieved only through cooperation among all the countries.  

Source: “Tanjug” news agency, Мondo and Coordination Body