Hungary ranks among the world’s twenty safest countries, according to statistical figures released by the police on Duna television channel’s programme Kékfény (‘Blue Light’, named after the blue police lights) on Monday evening.

Colonel General Sándor Töreki, Deputy Chief of the National Police and Crime Commissioner, spoke in the programme about last year’s crime statistics, indicating that the number of criminal offences was just over 167,000, which is 4 per cent higher than in 2022. ‘These figures also show that Hungarian citizens enjoyed stable public security throughout the country, and…our investigation success rates have also improved,’ he said. According to the data collected the success rate of investigations has hovered around 70 per cent for years, and last year it increased by 0.2 percentage points.

It was mentioned that there were 18 fewer homicides last year than the previous year. Töreki noted that about 90 per cent of homicides can be attributed to domestic conflicts.

In 2023 the Hungarian police solved every new homicide case, and in most cases, they apprehended the perpetrator within a few hours.

Regarding accidents resulting in personal injury, there were 393 fewer such incidents last year than the previous year, marking an improvement of over two per cent. Colonel General János Kuczik, Deputy Chief of the National Police for Law Enforcement, explained that the most common causes of accidents are still speeding, failure to give right of way, and violations of rules regarding changing lanes and turning. In addition, driving under the influence increases the risk of accidents. According to statistics, the number of fatal accidents also decreased last year, with 68 fewer deaths on the roads compared to 2022, representing a more than 12 per cent improvement.

In the programme, Colonel General János Kuczik spoke about the police operation aimed at preventing illegal street racing. He mentioned that they focused particularly on locations where drivers of modified vehicles gathered, conducting checks in shopping centre parking lots, gas station parking lots, and roads leading to them. During these checks, they revoked more than 50 driving licenses, ordered dozens of vehicles to undergo immediate technical inspections, and fined more than two hundred drivers. János Kuczik stated that as a result, in 2023 there were 47 fewer fatal accidents attributable to speeding. The programme also discussed the issue of seatbelt usage. According to surveys, only 90 per cent of front seat passengers and 57 per cent of rear seat passengers fastened their seatbelts last year, and only six out of ten children were properly restrained,

making Hungary’s rates worse than in only two other European countries.

Sándor Töreki also mentioned that last year 70 per cent of frauds, about 14,000 cases, were committed in the online space using IT systems. The number of such frauds doubled from four thousand to eight thousand. The police launched their Matrix programme last year, with 300 new investigators and IT specialists assisting units dealing with cybercrime, resulting in the apprehension of 57 online scammers within three months. A central cyber strategy department coordinates the investigation of crime series covering the entire country, maintaining contact with foreign investigators as well. Sándor Töreki emphasized that high-quality IT and technical tools are essential for investigations.

In the last quarter of 2023 there was a significant decrease in illegal migration, as fewer people reached the Hungarian border following stricter measures by Serbian authorities. However, in the first half of the year there was enormous pressure. János Kuczik said that there was not a single day last year when he did not receive reports of ‘seeing weapons on the other side of the fence or hearing shots.’ While fewer human traffickers were apprehended, car chases were almost daily in the first three quarters of 2023.

The level of violence against police officers decreased: after the exceptionally high figures in 2022 the number of attacks on police officers decreased by 36 per cent.

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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/Duna TV