Hungarian, Romanian authorities: Over 4,000 illegal entrants detained on border this year

Speaking to a press conference held together with Brigadier-General Zsolt Polyak, the head of the Csongrad-Csanad County police in south-eastern Hungary, General Bondar Marin said most illegal crossings are attempted at the motorway crossing at Csanadpalota-Nadlac (Nagylak), where the authorities have detained 2,600 people in the Jan-Aug period this year. On the green border, joint Hungarian-Romanian units patrol 10km into the territory of both countries, he added.

Polyak also praised cooperation between Hungarian and Romanian police, and noted that while the police worked together, the migrants discovered at the Csanadpalota-Nadlac crossing fell under Romanian jurisdiction. So far this year the Romanian authorities have launched 105 procedures for people smuggling after the detection of 160 cases where illegal migrants had been hidden in the cargo hold of trailer trucks or in cars, he said.

Great experience and expertise is required to uncover border violators hiding in lorries, and this task has been made even more difficult given that freight traffic at the Csanadpalota crossing has grown by about 20 percent this year, he said.