Hungary must pay a €200 million ($216 million) fine for not implementing changes to its policy on handling migrants and asylum seekers at its borders, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) announced on Thursday, according to Reuters. The ECJ stated that the fine relates to Hungary’s failure to adopt new rules concerning procedures for granting international protection and returning nationals of non-EU countries illegally staying in the EU.
In its verdict, the ECJ said Hungary had failed to take measures ‘to comply with the 2020 judgment as regards the right of applicants for international protection to remain in Hungary pending a final decision on their appeal against the rejection of their application and the removal of illegally staying third-country nationals.’
The ECJ has also ordered Hungary to pay a penalty of one million euros for each day of delay
in complying with the rules, due to non-compliance with the 2020 judgment. The Hungarian government argued that the 2020 ruling was moot, as it had already closed the so-called ‘transit zones’ on the border.
‘The #ECJ’s decision to fine #Hungary with 200M euros plus 1M euros daily(!!!) for defending the borders of the European Union is outrageous and unacceptable. It seems that illegal #migrants are more important to the Brussels bureaucrats than their own European citizens,’ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reacted to the verdict on X.
The #ECJ’s decision to fine #Hungary with 200M euros plus 1M euros daily(!!!) for defending the borders of the European Union is outrageous and unacceptable. It seems that illegal #migrants are more important to the Brussels bureaucrats than their own European citizens.
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) June 13, 2024
Under current legislation, people can only submit requests for asylum outside Hungary’s borders, at its embassies in neighbouring Serbia or Ukraine. In 2021, PM Orbán promised to ‘maintain the existing regime (regarding asylum seekers) even if the European court ordered us to change it.’
The verdict of the ECJ comes just weeks before the start of the Hungarian EU Presidency, which is anticipated
to focus on illegal migration
among other issues.
As reported by Hungarian Conservative, on 14 May the Council of the European Union finalized the reform of its migration and asylum policy. The main novelty is a system of ‘compulsory solidarity’, which would give governments three options for dealing with asylum seekers: relocating a certain number of asylum seekers, paying €20,000 for each asylum seeker refused, or financing operational support. The initial target is 30,000 transfers per year. It is also planned that other Member States will provide financial contributions and operational and technical support to EU countries particularly exposed to migratory pressure.
The pact was opposed by some EU Member States, namely by Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia—also Austria criticized the compulsory solidarity system. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stressed that Hungary considers the New Pact ‘another nail in the coffin of the European Union.’ On many occasions, including this time, he has emphasized that the unity of the EU and the presence of safe borders is over. However, ‘Hungary will never give in to the mass migration frenzy,’ he said at the time.
Hungarian MEP Balázs Hidvéghi expressed earlier: ‘This debate was never truly about aiding refugees, as everyone wants to assist those in need. Essentially, this debate revolves around whether we are capable of preserving our European identity and safeguarding the European way of life, norms, traditions, and culture.’ According to his statement, supporting mass migration jeopardizes all of this.
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