The experts have established that setting a daily limit to the number of migrants Austria takes does not conflict with the European Union’s basic treaty, which states that it is each member state’s sovereign right to employ measures to safeguard public order and provide domestic security, György Bakondi said.

This is a position Hungary has maintained in its migration policy, he said. Meanwhile, commenting on recent developments on the Greece - Macedonia border, Bakondi said it is unlikely that human smugglers had circulated leaflets in Arabic at Idomeni to advise migrants on alternative routes around the border fence, since this would have undermined their motive to make a profit.

It is likelier that other groups seeking to control the movements of migrants with the aim of putting pressure on EU decision-makers wanted to force the migrants camped in Greece to move further to the west, he said.

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MTI photo: Kovács Tamás