EU Commission refers Hungary to ECJ over its asylum laws
July 19, 2018
The European Commission's legal request could lead to the EU's top court imposing financial sanctions against Hungary. Brussels has also opened a new infringement procedure against Hungary's "Stop Soros" laws.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/C. Segesvari
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The European Commission on Thursday stepped up legal proceedings against Hungary over its restrictive treatment of migrants and failure to comply with EU asylum rules.
The Commission announced it was turning to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over Hungary's "non-compliance of its asylum and return legislation with EU law."
It marks the third and final step in Brussels' legal procedure against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government, which has been ongoing since December 2015. Hungary's could ultimately be slapped with financial sanctions should the ECJ confirm the Commission's line.
More checks at EU border crossings
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The EU's executive branch also opened up a new infringement procedure against Hungary over its new "Stop Soros" law, which criminalizes support for asylum-seekers.
Migrants in Hungary facing indefinite detention
In a statement, the Commission accused the Orban government of failing to provide migrants with effective access to asylum procedures.
Hungary only allows people to submit asylum applications at its "transit centers" on its border. Migrants are therefore often held and forced to wait in these special zones for significantly longer than the maximum four weeks allowed under EU rules. "The Commission considers that the indefinite detention of asylum-seekers in transit zones without respecting the applicable procedural guarantees is in breach of EU rules," it said in a statement.
Budapest also stands accused of breaching EU guarantees for migrants sent back to their countries of origin and transit. According to the Commission, "migrants risk being returned without the appropriate safeguards" under Hungarian legislation.
Brussels also denounced the Hungarian government for its "Stop Soros" law, which seeks to restrict non-governmental organizations supported by US financier George Soros.
One of the most controversial aspects of the new legislation is the criminalization of providing assistance to migrants with their asylum and residence applications. In extreme cases, activists and NGO employees face up to a year in prison for "assisting illegal migration" into Hungary.
The Commission said the "Stop Soros" bill curtails asylum claimants' rights to approach national, international and non-governmental organizations for help. It also introduces several new criteria to submit asylum applications that limit migrant's rights and infringe on EU laws.
Budapest has two months to respond to the European Commission's letter of notice.
Viktor Orban's most controversial migration comments
Hungary's right-wing prime minister has been one of Europe's leading voices against migration into the EU. Unafraid of controversy, he has described migration as an "invasion" and migrants as a "poison."
Image: Reuters/B. Szabo
'Muslim invaders'
"We don't see these people as Muslim refugees. We see them as Muslim invaders," Orban said in a recent interview with German daily Bild newspaper. The 54-year-old prime minister of Hungary added: "We believe that a large number of Muslims inevitably leads to parallel societies, because Christian and Muslim society will never unite." Multiculturalism, he said, "is only an illusion."
Image: Reuters/F. Lenoir
'You wanted the migrants, we didn't'
When asked by Bild whether it was fair for Germany to accept hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants while Hungary accepted none, Orban responded: "The difference is, you wanted the migrants, and we didn't." Migration, he said, threatens the "sovereignty and cultural identity" of Hungary.
Image: Reuters/L. Balogh
'Migration is poison'
It was not the first time the Hungarian leader has framed migration as a problem for his country. In 2016, he said that Hungary "does not need a single migrant for the economy to work, or the population to sustain itself, or for the country to have a future." He added: "for us migration is not a solution but a problem ... not medicine but a poison, we don’t need it and won’t swallow it.”
Image: picture alliance/dpa/AP Photo/P. Gorondi
'Importing homophobia'
Orban has repeatedly criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her decision to allow over a million migrants into Germany in the summer of 2015. Orban told Bild in early 2016: "If you take masses of non-registered immigrants from the Middle East into your country, you are importing terrorism, crime, anti-Semitism, and homophobia."
Image: Reuters/L. Balogh
'All terrorists are basically migrants'
Orban has also repeatedly criticized the EU for trying to get member states to share refugees based on national quotas. In a 2015 interview with POLITICO, he suggested the bloc's leaders instead focus more on strengthening the EU's external border. In the same interview, he said: "Of course it’s not accepted, but the factual point is that all the terrorists are basically migrants."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Bozon
'Parallel societies'
Orban has found allies in other right-wing governments in eastern Europe such as Poland that also oppose the EU's refugee policies. In an interview with Spanish TV channel Intereconomia in 2015, Orban raised fears about integrating Muslim migrants in the EU when he said: "What sort of Europe do we want to have? Parallel societies? Muslim communities living together with the Christian community?"
