Szijjarto: Hungary backs Lithuania's fight against illegal immigration (adds details)

Hungary supports Lithuania in the protection of its borders against illegal immigrants, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in Vilnius, pointing out that Lithuania was protecting the European Union's external borders. "Lithuania is now facing the same serious challenge that Hungary faced in 2015 when hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants violated our southern border and with it our sovereignty," Szijjarto said. He added that illegal migration now also carried the risk of the spread of the coronavirus. Alluding to the migrant caravan making its way from Belarus towards Lithuania, Szijjarto said that some 1,400 migrants had crossed into Lithuania illegally so far this year, compared with only 70 in the first half of 2020.