Embassy in Hungary Checks Reports on Russian Citizen Detention

Russia's Embassy in Budapest did not receive any official information from the Hungarian authorities about a Russian citizen by the Hungarian law enforcement over his alleged participation in human trafficking, according to the official statement.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia's Embassy in Budapest is checking reports on the arrest of a Russian citizen by the Hungarian law enforcement over his alleged participation in human trafficking, the Russian diplomatic mission said Friday.

"The embassy has not received any official information from the Hungarian authorities. The reports are being checked and clarified," a source at the embassy told RIA Novosti.

Earlier in the day, media reported that the Hungarian law enforcement had detained on Wednesday and Thursday in Budapest 21 people, including a Russian citizen, over their alleged involvement in human trafficking. Police have seized 16 vehicles with 112 migrants, including Syrians.

The Hungarian police sweep came shortly after a truck, which had reportedly departed from Budapest, was found on Thursday abandoned on an Austrian highway with the remains of 71 migrants.

The European Union is facing a refugee crisis, with thousands of people leaving conflict-torn countries in North Africa and the Middle East to cross into EU member states.

Estimates from the European Union's external border protection agency Frontex show that over 340,000 migrants were detected at the bloc's external borders between January and July 2015, which is three times higher than during the same period in 2014.