Austria Sends Troops to Hungary-Serbian Border - Defense Ministry

Austria on Thursday deployed around 60 soldiers to carry out a humanitarian mission on the border between Hungary and Serbia, which is not an EU member, in the light of the renewed threat of collapse of the EU-Turkey agreement on the migrant issue, the Austrian Defense Ministry said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Austria dispatched troops near the Hungarian city of Hodmezovasarhely, located close to the Hungary-Serbia border, to carry out a six-month mission, aimed at helping Hungary improve road infrastructure, according to the Defense Ministry's statement.

Earlier in the day, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that Ankara would scrap its deal with Brussels if Turkish nationals did not get visa-free access to EU borderless Schengen area by the end of the year, thus triggering EU states' concerns over the possibility of a new wave of migrants.

In mid-March, Brussels and Ankara agreed on a deal, under which Turkey pledged to take back all undocumented migrants who arrive in the European Union through its territory in exchange for Syrian refugees accommodated in Turkey, on a one-for-one basis. In return, the European Union pledged to provide a total of 3 billion euros to Turkey to help it deal with refugees, with a possible further 3-billion-euro provision in 2018.