Austria strengthens border security, while Hungary releases hundreds of human traffickers

Adriana Lima
By Adriana Lima 3 Min Read
origin 1FILE: Austrian police cast shadows as they practice guarding the border fence, Austria, Tuesday June 26, 2018. ©AP Photo

The Austrian government on Monday demanded an explanation from Hungary as it tightened security along the countries’ shared border following Budapest’s decision to grant early release to convicted people smugglers.

The decision to release several hundred detainees has “a direct impact on our security,” Austria’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry expects “immediate and complete clarification from Hungary”, the note reads, adding that the Hungarian ambassador to Austria was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Vienna for an urgent meeting on Monday afternoon.

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner tightened border controls over the weekend while he was Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg he discussed the matter with his Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, on Sunday.

Hungarian officials said the release of the convicted people traffickers, all foreign nationals, was meant to free up space in Hungarian prisons and relieve taxpayers. Prisoners must leave Hungary within 72 hours of their release, according to a government decree.

French police have cracked down on a gang that smuggles Afghan and Pakistani migrants across the Channel
Members of human trafficking ring arrested in several European countries
Germany arrests four members of a suspected migrant smuggling ring

“As long as there is overcrowding in prisons… it is a correct decision that we do not want to use Hungarian taxpayers’ money to finance the treatment of several hundred human traffickers,” Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said earlier this month.

Hungary is a staunch opponent of irregular migration to Europe, and Orban has often stressed that migration threatens to replace the continent’s Christian culture.

The central European country lies along the Balkan migration route, a popular corridor where migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere travel in an attempt to reach the European Union.

Austria criticized the decision to release the smugglers as a contradiction with Hungary’s position on migrants.

“The justification that imprisoning human traffickers of foreign nationality is too expensive is diametrically opposed to Hungary’s previously self-declared hard line against human trafficking,” the Austrian foreign ministry said in a statement.

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