Serbia to Join Forces With Hungary, Austria to Counteract Migration Crisis

BELGRADE (Sputnik) - Serbia, Hungary and Austria will join forces to deal with the migration crisis and sign a special cooperation agreement on the matter, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday.

"Our experts will produce together a draft agreement by October 7 already, we will meet in Belgrade several days later to approve this agreement and develop an action plan on how to implement it and to protect other parts of Europe with the measures that we will undertake," Vucic said during a joint press conference, adding that "Serbia will be a reliable partner for our Hungarian and Austrian friends."

The Serbian president noted the influx of migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, while also highlighting the fact that roughly 17,600 people from Russia and Ukraine have arrived recently and received a year-long registration in Serbia. Vucic stated that this would create considerable pressure on his country.

Earlier in the day at a summit in Budapest, Vucic discussed with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer the issue of countering illegal migration and human trafficking.

In early September, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) reported that the number of illegal migrants arriving in the EU from January-August 2022 was the highest ever recorded over the eight-month period since 2016.