Hungary: Refugee controls hit cross-border trade

Border restrictions due to the refugee crisis are having a damaging impact on European companies who rely on international trade.

Near Hungary’s frontiers the queues sometimes stretch between 20 and 40 kilometres. All vans are checked to make sure they’re not carrying migrants.

One of Europe’s largest haulage companies, Waberer’s International, has 3,500 lorries and an income of 550 million euros a year.

The firm has suffered a dent in its income of three to five percent because of the crisis, and fears that if the situation continues its profits could be wiped out.

“We cannot fulfil our obligations and for this we pay late payment surcharges, so if this situation carries on for a long period, then transport costs will probably increase,” said the company’s Chairman and CEO, György Wáberer.

It’s too early to assess the impact on tourism in Hungary. Before the crisis worsened over the summer, the sector grew by a healthy 17 percent during the first six months of the year.

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