Serbia prevents thousands of migrants from entering EU: Hungarian premier

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban Friday said Serbia prevents hundreds of thousands of irregular migrants from entering the European Union.

Orban's remarks came at a joint conference, after a trilateral meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in Vienna.

“Without Serbia and Hungary, Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands would have hundreds of thousands of more migrants than they do now. Hungary is in an exceptional position and in close proximity to Ukraine, where there is a war, and there is the most frequented migrant route. We protect the whole of Europe at the external borders,” said Orban.

He added that as many as 270,000 irregular migrants were stopped at the Serbian-Hungarian border.

Vucic, for his part, said that Serbia, Austria, and Hungary have signed a trilateral memorandum on further cooperation in order to keep illegal migration under control.

“I believe that we will manage to keep this issue under control and in the best interest of our countries and all of Europe,” said Vucic.

Karl Nehammer said the three countries have succeeded in reducing illegal migration and thanked Serbia for changing the visa regime for citizens of India and Tunisia.

The leaders of Hungary, Austria, and Serbia met in Hungary's capital Budapest in October 2022 and agreed to expand cooperation in fighting irregular migration.