Romania, Hungary sign new agreement to combat cross-border crime

Romania's Minister of Home Affairs Catalin Predoiu and Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto on Tuesday signed an agreement amending a previous agreement between Romania and Hungary, initially signed in Szeged on October 21, 2008, regarding co-operation between the two countries in preventing and combatting cross-border crime."The new agreement will strengthen police co-operation between Romania and Hungary, supplementing the provisions of the 2008 agreement, which is already a very useful tool for specialists from both countries. The new rules provide for more frequent meetings between representatives of the two countries as part of a Joint committee established by the 2008 agreement, in order to respond quickly to the new needs and trends in the fight against crime, including amidst Romania's accession to the Schengen area," Romania's Ministry of Home Affairs reports.Szijjarto was on a visit to Bucharest to participate in a ministerial meeting of the quadrilateral Romania-Hungary-Azerbaijan-Georgia co-operation on a strategic partnership in the area of green energy development and transmission.Predoiu highlighted an active dialogue between the two ministries in charge with home affairs in Romania and Hungary, as well as the fact that he and his Hungarian counterpart Sandor Pinter are sharing the same points of view regarding the very efficient co-operation between the two ministries."The two dignitaries stressed that the objective of eliminating controls at internal land borders remains a priority of Romanian and Hungarian authorities, who have already successfully taken a series of measures to face the new operational challenges, so that the implementation of the second stage of Schengen accession goes smoothly. All these steps have resulted in a decrease in the figures on illegal migration, and the relevant authorities will continue to cooperate within the same parameters."Predoiu also mentioned a constant dialogue between Romania and other EU member states on this subject, stressing that it is particularly important for Romania to approve a decision to eliminate control at internal land borders by the end of 2024.