Will queues come back? Hungary re-introduces strict border control

Hungary has decided to bring back regular border checks. The relevant government decree was published in the state Hungarian Gazette on Wednesday, November 8, the Mukachevo.net informs.

As you know, in May 2017, the Government of Hungary stated that it was temporarily suspending the application of the new EU rules on regular checks on its borders. In particular, according to Karoly Kontrat, the deputy head of the parliamentary committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the country, due to the application of new rules, long queues had emerged at the border crossing points in some regions. They also expected that the waiting time would significantly increase during the summer tourist season.

 Now, the tourist season is over, and Hungary has decided to re-introduce the more stringent rules of border crossing. Most likely, this is due to the anti-immigrant policy of the Orban government. Although previously they stated that Hungary was skeptical about the application of the new EU rules on enhanced control at the borders of the Schengen area. After all, it did not affect the flow of illegal migrants in any way.

Of course, this decision will certainly have negative consequences on the borders, and the waiting time can increase significantly again.