Hungary offers border protection to Italy

By Mehmet Yilmaz

ANKARA (AA) - Hungary’s prime minister on Sunday said his country could help protect Italy's border as part of efforts to combat irregular migration.

"If necessary, we can undertake the protection of some border areas of Italy," Victor Orban told a congress of his Fidesz party.

"You have allowed the entry of irregular migrants, but you can still undertake to transport a significant number of irregular migrants from Italy to their home countries.”

Stating that Central European countries are protecting Europe's external borders, Orban accused Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of having a lax immigration policy.

Hungary, with the support of its partners in the Visegrad Group Czechia, Poland, and Slovakia, has reinforced troops and police on its borders as part of measures against irregular migrants.

Hungary erected barbed wire fence along its borders with Serbia and Croatia to stop the irregular influx of migrants, declared a state of emergency in border areas, and tightened penalties for illegal crossings.

A law passed in parliament also requires irregular migrants, including children, to be kept in border camps during their asylum application.

*Writing by Dilara Hamit in Ankara