Interior ministers of Hungary, Austria and Serbia met here Friday to discuss ways to jointly fight illegal migration and human-trafficking.

Hungary's Sandor Pinter told a joint press conference after the talks that one major problem is the large number of illegal immigrants living in the three countries and that more joint efforts are needed in the fight.

The number of those who illegally crossed the borders into Hungary was estimated at between 24,000 and 26,000 in 2013, Pinter said, adding that 18,000 of them applied for refugee status.

More than 6,000 applicants came from safe countries according to Hungarian and European Union rules, and they would be repatriated, Pinter added.

Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said international cooperation is needed for the fight against human-trafficking.

The three ministers agreed that special attention should be paid to Macedonia, where human-traffickers appear frequently, she said, adding that Serbia should be aided in its border protection efforts.

Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic thanked Austria and Hungary for their support.

The number of illegal immigrants in Serbia is increasing and Serbia would like to resolve this problem, he said.

According to an agreement signed by Pinter and Mikl-Leitner, Hungary will take back Hungarians found illegally living in Austria. Endi

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