Austria urges Hungary to uphold EU laws

Vienna: Austria called on Hungary to stick to EU laws concerning the migrant crisis, after the two had a heated exchange.

Austrian chancellor Werner Faymann and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban were at the EU special summit in Brussels, held to discuss the ongoing crisis when it came to the exchange sparked by Orban accusing Austria and Germany of being responsible for the crisis.

Faymann in response accused Hungary of poorly treating migrants passing through its territory.

Orban in return threatened to allow the migrants pass into Austria and Germany through Hungary, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a press release on Thursday, Faymann said laws were to be upheld and "that counts for both the Schengen and Dublin regulations as well as for human rights and the right to asylum".

He criticised the fence Hungary had erected at its border with Serbia, which has "very obviously not hindered the entry of refugees into Hungary".

He said since the completion of the fence in mid-September nearly 60,000 migrants have entered Austria via Hungary, and stressed the need for a common European approach to the problem.

Despite the present tension between the two sides, the Hungarian government on Thursday said Orban as well as several other senior ministers are to visit Vienna on Friday to discuss the migrant crisis.