Orbán: ‘We’ll reinforce Hungary’s southern border’

“We will set up border hunter units tasked with safeguarding your security in collaboration with the police,” Viktor Orbán said in a video posted on Facebook.

In the first phase, a total of 2,200 border guards will be trained and assigned to protect the borders, to be followed by expanding the force to 4,000, Orbán said, adding that he signed a relevant decree earlier in the day.

He said the cabinet had held a long meeting on Thursday lasting for more than ten hours which time was required because of the war in Ukraine that threatens not only Hungary’s economy, but its security as well.

The cabinet concluded at its meeting that several countries in Africa were running short on food supplies. “As a result of the food crisis migration pressure is expected to increase on Hungary’s southern borders with several hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants setting off for Hungary, and to Europe, in the coming weeks and months,” Orbán said, noting “an increase in the number of illegal entrants” in the recent past. “They are becoming more violent,” the prime minister said, noting that clashes on the Serbian side of the border had claimed a person’s life.