Hungary’s Leader Fumes Over $216 Million Fine For Violating Asylum Laws
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Hungary’s hardline prime minister has condemned a decision by the European Union’s top court to fine his nation 200 million euros ($216 million) and impose a daily one-million-euro penalty for failing to follow the bloc’s asylum laws.
Viktor Orbán called the verdict outrageous and unacceptable, saying “the ruling was delivered by the court of [lineral U.S. billionaire] George Soros” and “sneaky Brusselites.”
He pledged to figure out “how to solve this in a way that ends up being more painful for them than for us.”
The Strasbourg-based European Court of Justice (ECJ) said the fine and penalty were because Hungary “is deliberately evading” compliance with the EU laws despite a 2020 ruling that it must uphold international procedures for asylum seekers
“Since this failure to fulfill obligations constitutes an unprecedented and exceptionally serious breach of EU law, the Court orders Hungary to pay a lump sum of 200 million euros and a penalty payment of one million euros per day of delay,” it said in a statement.
“It seems that illegal migrants are more important to the Brussels bureaucrats than their own European citizens,” Orbán countered in statements seen by Worthy News.
Like Poland and the Czech Republic, Hungary has already been condemned by EU courts for refusing to accept a quota of refugees decided in 2015 when Europe faced a massive influx of migrants, most of them fleeing the war in Syria.
HUNGARY FENCE
Hungary erected a colossal fence along the border with Serbia.
Those managing to enter were held in containers, including an Iranian Christian and his son, who was eventually allowed to stay in Hungary following a Worthy News reporter’s questions at a live televised news conference.
The containers disappeared, but asylum seekers were told to apply for asylum at Hungarian embassies in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Belgrade, Serbia, despite EU guidelines.
Additionally, those detained in Hungary were often not able to await their appeal against deportation, according to the ECJ.
As a result, the ECH backed a request by the European Commission, the EU’s executive, for the fine against Hungary, saying it was pursuing a path that “seriously undermines the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility between the member states”
EU member countries have to present national plans by December on how they will apply new asylum rules that will come into force in 2026, something Hungary has refused.
Orbán says most migrants are from Islamic nations and threaten what he views as Europe’s Christian and Jewish heritage. He suggests supporting refugees in their region.
However, Brussels’s new rules require EU countries to take in thousands of asylum-seekers from “frontline” states such as Italy and Greece—or provide money or other resources to the under-pressure nations instead.
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