(ANSA) - BUDAPEST - Hungary recorded in 2013 a number of requests for political asylum nine times higher than in 2012, growing from 2,157 to 18,900, and this has been an ''unprecedented '' increase since 2000, according to Zsuzsanna Vegh, director general of the Hungarian Immigration and Citizenship Deparment, a press release issued by the Interior Ministry reported. Vegh pointed out that in 2013, 23,000 people have crossed the southern Hungarian border illegally, 85% of which sought refugee protection, even though in a ''significant number '' of cases the request was not justified. According to the press release, most of the illegal migrants in 2013 (more than 6,000 people) came from Kosovo, that is 32% of asylum applications. The remaining 68% came from Afghanistan, Algeria and Syria. According to Vegh, this increase in the number of refugees seeking asylum in Hungary depends in particular on the reduction of ''security'' in their home countries, in particular Syria and Afghanistan. As for Kosovo, however, financial and existential problems ''have forced many people to leave their countries'' to seek a job and to build a new life in Hungary. (ANSA)