Of . – 06/10/2022 14:16 (act 06/10/2022 19:53)
Serbia receives help from Austria to secure its southern border. According to the IMC, red-white-red will mainly provide technical support to the country. ©APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER (image of symbol)
Serbia received a commitment from Austria in terms of border protection. It’s about more support.
Austria and Hungary promised Serbia more support in securing the border with North Macedonia. In return, Serbia wants to tighten its visa rules for countries from which particularly large numbers of migrants are illegally entering the EU. In a meeting between Interior Minister Gerhard Karner and Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (both ÖVP) with Serbian and Hungarian counterparts in Belgrade on Thursday, the migration situation on the “Balkan route” was discussed.
Austria: Support for Serbian border guards
At a joint press conference with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vulin, Interior Minister Karner thanked Serbia for its commitment to adapting visa rules to those of the European Union. Among other things, people from India and Tunisia can currently enter Serbia without a visa, and more recently, they continued to drive to the EU from there with the help of smugglers. According to Karner, Austria was particularly affected.
Southern border: Serbia receives support from Austria
In return, Serbia will receive support from Austria and Hungary to secure its southern border with North Macedonia. No specific details were provided, which should be clarified at official level. According to the Ministry of Interior, Austria will mainly provide technical support to Serbia.
“Serbia, Hungary and Austria have a common problem”
Vulin also spoke of financial support from Hungary and Austria to strengthen existing police patrols on the Serbian border. However, there should be no new hotspots or reception centers for migrants. Serbia does not want to be “a parking lot for migrants,” Vulin said. “Serbia, Hungary and Austria have a common problem and therefore they must solve it together,” said the Serbian interior minister. Taking into account the “explosion” in the number of migrants, which can certainly be compared with those of 2015, this “is no longer a humanitarian crisis, it is about criminals”.
Hungary spoke of ‘siege’ of the border by migrants
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said the same, speaking of a “siege” of Hungary’s southern border by migrants, some of whom were armed. “For us, this is not a human rights issue, but a matter of violating the laws of our country,” Szijjártó said.
Karner did not want to completely erase the human rights issue from the table: “The fight against human traffickers is also a human rights issue because human traffickers trample human rights,” he said.
Hungary has denied reports
Szijjártó dismissed reports of mistreatment of migrants at the Serbian-Hungarian border. Karner asked that such reports be reported to authorities.
Austria is already helping Serbia with border protection
Austria has supported Serbia with police officers for border protection since 2020. In early September, Karner announced that the number of Austrian police officers would increase from 50 to 70. Ten Austrian officers are currently deployed on the border between Serbia and North Macedonia.
Closer cooperation had already been agreed at the meeting between Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Budapest on Monday. The three heads of state and government want to meet again at the end of October.