Multiple shots were fired at a joint Serbian-Hungarian patrol group in the vicinity of Mórahalom on the late evening of 21 September. The shots were presumably fired from several automatic weapons, most likely by members of human trafficking gangs with illegal immigrant backgrounds, the Hungarian National Police reported.
The joint Serbian-Hungarian patrol group, consisting of four members, observed at least four single shots followed by multiple short bursts of fire, presumably originating from several automatic weapons fired from the direction of Serbia into the airspace and towards them. This incident occurred at the temporary security border fence in the Mórahalom area at 10:30 p.m. on 21 September. The police officers reported the sound of a bullet striking very close to them and immediately decided to withdraw from the area. Fortunately, no personal injuries were reported. It is highly likely that the shots were fired by members of human trafficking gangs with illegal immigrant backgrounds, using multiple automatic weapons.
Both the Serbian and Hungarian sides held a border meeting to investigate this border violation. The Csongrád-Csanád County Police initiated legal proceedings against unknown suspects on suspicion of committing the crime of misuse of firearms or ammunition.
Merely a day later, on 22 September,
a man crossed into Hungary from Serbia armed with a machine gun
to secure the entry of 13 illegal immigrants. However, the group was stopped and apprehended by the police just half a kilometre from the border.
According to a statement from the National Police, in the vicinity of Röszke, shortly after 6 a.m. on 22 September, a surveillance camera operator noticed a man climbing over a ladder from the Serbian side onto the road established between the temporary security border fences.
The man stopped on the road, took a machine gun off his shoulder, and provided cover for the 13 illegal immigrants who followed him. There were no patrolling officers nearby at the time, as, at the same time, two other groups of illegal immigrants were being apprehended a bit farther away. After the group had crossed, the armed ‘guard’ climbed back over the ladder into Serbia. The police stopped the group of illegal aliens shortly afterwards, at a distance of approximately half a kilometre from the border, and in accordance with Hungarian law, escorted the 13 illegal migrants back to the temporary security border fence.
These are not the first occasions of border incidents involving armed criminals. As Hungarian Conservative reported in August, the Prime Minister’s Chief Security Advisor György Bakondi drew attention at the time to the fact that ‘weapons have appeared’ in Serbia near the border, and that the public security situation had become critical in the settlements near the border. Initially, criminal gangs fought each other in uninhabited parts of the area, using knives, pistols, and submachine guns, but since they have also appeared in the settlements where they engage in shootings.
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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/police.hu
