Viktor Orbán has promised retaliation following a €200 million fine imposed by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which Hungary refuses to pay.
The European Commission will use all legal powers at its disposal to prevent Hungary bus transport of irregular immigrants to Brusselsa measure that would mean a serious escalation in the confrontation that Viktor Orbán and the Executive have maintained for decades.
Bupadest’s threat to deliberately transport migrants from one Member State to another is seen as retaliation for the fine of 200 million euros that he Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has imposed on Hungary and that the country refuses to pay.
No transfer has occurred yet and it is unclear when, if ever, it will occur. “As for the announcements made by the Hungarian authorities that they would transport irregular migrants from the Serbian-Hungarian borders to Brussels, in a word, basically, it is unacceptable“a Commission spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“This action, if carried out, would mean a clear violation of EU lawbut also a clear violation of the principle of sincere and loyal cooperation, and mutual trust. Furthermore, it would also undermine the security of the Schengen area as a whole.”
The spokesperson said the Commission was “in contact” with Budapest to ensure that The Government “refrains” to move forward with the announced plan. Contacts are also being maintained with Hungary’s neighboring countries that could be affected.
“We are ready to use all the powers conferred on us by the Treaty to ensure that EU law is respected,” the official added.
Under the Schengen Borders Code, the Commission can submit a proposal to the Council to introduce temporary restrictionsincluding the entrance, throughout the space. Member States can also make this decision unilaterally, like Germany did after a knife attack in the city of Solingen in August. The stabbings, claimed by the Islamic State, have revived the immigration debate and calls for radical options.
The convergence of the events in Budapest and Berlin raises fears that the Schengen areaone of the bloc’s most tangible achievements, stopped working, undermined by a series of uncoordinated border controls.
The Commission’s comments come after the barrage of criticism of the Belgian authorities, who on Monday strongly rejected the “provocation” of Hungary and They asked the Commission to react “firmly and decisively”.
Nicole de Moor, Belgian Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, warned that, if transfers take place, Belgium will not allow access to “instrumentalized migratory flows this way”.
A controversy with roots in the CJEU
The latest controversy has its origin in the CJEU ruling June, which declared that Hungary had committed an “unprecedented and exceptionally serious breach of EU law” by its strict restrictions on the right to asylum. The Court imposed on the country a global fine of 200 million euros and another of one million euros for each day that the violation persists.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reacted furiously to the verdict, calling it “outrageous and unacceptable.” In June he noted that “it seems that illegal immigrants are more important to Brussels bureaucrats than their own European citizens”.
The confrontation soon worsened when Orbán’s deputies threatened to pay irregular immigrants a “one-way ticket” from Hungary to the Belgian capital. On Friday, Secretary of State Bence Rétvári offered a news conference to present a row of buses that would be used in the operation, with illuminated signs reading “Röszke-Brussels”. He said transportation would be offered on a “voluntary” and “free” basis.
“If Brussels wants illegal immigrants, Brussels can have them,” Rétvári said. Meanwhile, Budapest has demanded to recover 2,000 million euros from the bloc’s coffersan amount the country claims to have spent since 2015 to protect its internal borders. The Commission does not recognize the amount as reimbursable.
The bus conflict occurs in parallel with Hungary’s recent decision to extend your national card to Russian and Belarusian citizens, which, the Commission warns, could mean a threat to “the entire” Schengen area.
