Lázár said police are investigating whether the massive influx of migrants on a specific segment of the border was a planned operation set up on the Serbian-Macedonian border by human smuggling rings. He said Hungarian police received no help from their Serbian colleagues on Wednesday, but stressed, however, that Serbia’s accession to the European Union is still in Hungary’s interest.

He said Serbia joining the EU early could have solved the migrant crisis. When asked about UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon’s comments that he was “shocked to see the way refugees and migrants have been treated”, Lázár said all international reactions needed to be taken seriously, but said that it was impossible to tell from Berlin, Vienna or New York the basis on which a commander at the scene of such protests makes choices.

He said that police in “more advanced democracies” take “even more serious” action in situations like the one on the border on Wednesday.

On the topic of injured reporters, Lázár said there would be no official investigation into the matter, but the government will look into its legal aspects. He said Hungary still disagrees with and is “unwilling to compromise” in the question of setting up hot spots in Hungary for registering migrants.

Asked about plans to build a fence on certain sections of the Hungary- Croatia border, Lázár said the fence would be much shorter than the one on the border with Serbia, as Hungary and Croatia are separated by a number of natural borders. On the topic of Hungary’s campaign spreading the word about its new migration and asylum laws, he said the government would spend 800 million forints (EUR 2.6m) on it abroad and 300 million in Hungary.

When asked about the government’s decision to close reception centres, he said the reason was that the border fence is effective and asylum procedures have been speeded up.

Lázár said the government would decide whether the Röszke border station would be opened before the 30-day closure is up based on the number of migrants gathering at the station and if they observe the rules.

Asked about press reports that migrants had entered Baranya County in southern Hungary from Croatia, Lázár said the government’s operative staff was aware of their entry and added that police would take action.

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