Pressure on the Hungarian border has increased dramatically in the past four months, with 5,000 illegal migrants apprehended since the beginning of the year, compared to just 900 in the first four months of 2024.
György Bakondi, the Hungarian prime minister’s chief domestic security advisor, told public broadcaster M1 that the rising migrant numbers also reflect how human smugglers continually seek new routes.
As more and more countries reinforce their border controls, illegal migrants increasingly depend on human smugglers, Bakondi said, “which is why this criminal business is thriving.”
An increasing number of EU member states are dissatisfied with the bloc’s migration policies, he said, adding that the solution is not quotas but controlling the Union’s external borders.
