Latest news with #Rétvári
Budapest Times
3 days ago
- Budapest Times
Hungarian police crack down on Ukrainian scammers
Bence Rétvári, the parliamentary state secretary of the interior ministry, said Hungarian police have been cracking down on Ukrainian criminal groups that have committed various types of online fraud. Rétvári said in a post on Facebook that the scams included cryptocurrency fraud and fake package deliveries. Police have identified 169 Ukrainian suspects, including managers and front men for the criminal gang's money laundering activities. International arrest warrants have been issued against people involved in money laundering, phishing and operating fake call centres. Retvari listed various crimes committed throughout Hungary, and noted that the largest ever illegal call centre network also operated in Ukraine in which Hungarians were swindled out of money by criminals pretending to call from banks.
Budapest Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Hungarian police have prevented more than 10,000 illegal border crossings during service abroad
State Secretary Bence Rétvári said Hungarian police have so far prevented more than 10,000 illegal border crossings during their service abroad, which is 'a huge number'. Rétvári told the farewell ceremony of a Hungarian police contingent setting off to work at the Bulgaria-Turkey border that Hungarian police and border guards had been doing 'exemplary service' for ten years, showing how best to act against illegal migrants. He said that the US had introduced strict border measures similar to Hungary's border protection, and since Donald Trump's return to office, over 152,000 people had been deported from US territory. He added that the US was more successful in deportations than the European Union, with 8-9 of every 10 attempts being unsuccessful in the EU. 'This is why border protection is important, and this is why the work you do is invaluable,' he said. Rétvári said the new German government had also introduced border controls at the external borders of Germany, which he said was 'the same as what we Hungarians have been doing for ten years'. The difference, he added, was that whereas EU leaders had accepted Germany's border protection 'and demonstrated an understanding attitude, Hungary has been fined 1 million euros per day'.
Budapest Times
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Rétvári: EU should protect bloc's external borders
"Pro-migration forces plan to have one million migrants arrive in Europe every year, while the negative effects of illegal migration are obvious," Bence Rétvári said. Bence Rétvári, a state secretary at the interior ministry, said in Brussels on Wednesday that the European Union should deploy member states' resources to protect the bloc's external borders, but it is failing in doing so and has even imposed a daily fine on Hungary 'for protecting its external borders'. After a meeting of EU interior ministers, Rétvári told a press conference that the EU received 981,000 asylum requests in 2024, second highest after 2016, when some 1 million were registered. This year, the number of requests may reach 1.1 million, he insisted. 'Pro-migration forces plan to have one million migrants arrive in Europe every year, while the negative effects of illegal migration are obvious,' Rétvári said. 'Besides constant terror threat and increasingly frequent attacks, the Schengen Area is also faltering,' Rétvári said. While it is 'in theory' based on the principle of free movement, an increasing number of countries including Italy, Germany, Sweden and France have so far introduced border checks, he said. That harms one of the EU's fundamental goals, open borders, he said. 'The situation is worse now than it was 5 years ago as internal borders are less and less open.' Due to the EU's inactivity, member states are increasingly taking the protection of external borders into their own hands, he said. Austrian, Czech and Slovak border guards have helped out on Hungary's southern border in the past years, the state secretary added. Joint action was launched on the Turkish-Bulgarian border in 2024 with the participation of Bulgarian, Romanian, Austrian and Hungarian forces, and Croatian, Slovene and Italian authorities are cooperating to stop illegal migration on the Bosnian border, he said.
Budapest Times
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Police in Hungary stand ready to prevent repeat of Antifa attacks
Bence Rétvári said Hungary found any attempt to mount a manhunt on the streets of Budapest "intolerable", and all means would be used to prevent attacks and protect the Hungarian people. Police in Hungary stand ready to prevent any repeat of the Antifa attacks that took place two years ago. State Secretary Bence Rétvári made the announcement on Monday in connection to anti-fascist actions expected on February 11, the anniversary of the day in 1945, when surrounded Nazi soldiers, attempted to break out of the Buda Castle. 'The Antifa movement wants to tear down today's social order and sees violence as an acceptable way of doing so,' Rétvári told a press conference, adding that beating someone to a pulp could not be justified by any ideology. Police will be out in force to prevent any violent actions, he added. He said Hungary found any attempt to mount a manhunt on the streets of Budapest 'intolerable', and all means would be used to prevent attacks and protect the Hungarian people.
