Immigration, EU court sting Hungary: 200 million fine plus 1 million a day

Brussels – Hungary continues to “deliberately avoid the application of a common EU policy as a whole,” specifically on immigration and asylum, and the Court of Justice of the EU uses a heavy hand in the face of what the Luxembourg judges define as “an unprecedented and extremely serious infringement of EU law.” That is why it imposed a maxi-money fine on Viktor Orban’s government of 200 million euros plus a penalty payment of 1 million euros per day of delay for failure to comply with a judgment of the Court of Justice.

In the crosshairs is the 2020 court ruling, which found the country guilty of failing in its obligations of managing migrants. It found that Hungary restricted access to the international protection procedure, irregularly detained asylum seekers, and violated their right to remain on Hungarian territory pending a final decision. All irregularities that, to date, the Hungarian authorities have been unable to remedy because there has been no will to do so.

The Luxembourg judges are intervening not so much because of the prolonged violation of rules, the non-compliance of which “seriously undermines the principle of solidarity” between member states as on the decision not to listen to either the European Commission or common justice bodies. The ruling today (June 13) reiterates in a whole new way the now virtually endless clash between Budapest and Brussels.