St Martin, Austria, June 17 (MTI) – The defence and interior ministers of Hungary and Austria discussed recent developments in migration and related tasks at their meeting in St Martin (Rábaszentmárton) in south-eastern Austria on Friday.
István Simicskó and Sándor Pintér of Hungary, and Hans Peter Doskozil and Wolfgang Sobotka of Austria agreed that Europe must be protected along its Schengen borders in which efforts Hungary and Austria must jointly participate using experience gained through the Visegrad Four cooperation.
Defence Minister Doskozil told a press conference after the meeting that it is not enough “to wait for a European level solution,” member countries must “do as much as they can” through bilateral cooperation. He noted that both Austria and Hungary will continue to face migration pressure with 60-70 percent of migrants seeking to reach to western Europe through the Balkans.
Interior Minister Sobotka repeatedly stated Austria’s decision to accept 37,500 migrants this year. He said Austria and Hungary will jointly submit proposals to help drafting an effective European level policy on protecting borders.
Defence Minister Simicskó said the two countries’ views came closer on the migration issue.
Interior Minister Pintér announced setting up a joint working committee to coordinate on migration related tasks and cooperation and draft proposals on solutions.