Hungarian Interior Minister Sándor Pinter is holding a meeting with his counterparts from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland on Monday to discuss efforts to combat human trafficking and illegal migration, dpa reported.

Many governments have temporarily reintroduced checks at fixed and mobile checkpoints along borders to prevent migrant smugglers from transporting migrants to Central and Western Europe via the Balkan routes.

Monday’s talks will take place in Szeged, near the fence Hungary installed on the border with Serbia in 2015.

German Minister Nancy Feser’s presence comes as her country has seen its largest number of illegal migrants this year since the 2015 crisis.

In October, Faeser announced plans to re-introduce fixed border controls with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.

A sharp rise in the number of asylum seekers overwhelmed migrant reception centers in the first half of 2023 and sparked months of wrangling between officials over how to share the costs.

In an interview with Der Spiegel in September, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that “we must finally deport en masse those who do not have the right to stay in Germany.”

According to Scholz, “a whole package of measures” is needed to limit illegal migration, including better protection of the EU’s external borders. (Agerpress)