Brussels
Hungary has not paid the €200 million fine, so the European Commission is seeking to deduct the amount from future payments to Budapest from the EU. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) imposed the penalty in June for violating EU asylum laws.
Hungary’s 15-day deadline to pay 200 million euros expired on Tuesday, the commission spokesperson said, triggering the so-called compensation process. “We will now deduct the 200 million euros that Hungary is due to pay from the EU budget.”
Last summer, the ECJ found that the government of conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban had violated EU law in a very serious way. In a previous ruling, the ECJ had already declared core parts of the Hungarian asylum system illegal. The European Commission has also accused Hungary of ignoring EU standards and basic values for years, and has frozen billions of dollars in funding to the country.
daily fine
Hungary must also pay a daily fine of €1 million for each day of delay, according to the ECJ’s decision. Budapest was fined 90 days ago. A spokesperson for the European Commission said the Commission had asked Hungary to pay the fine. The Hungarian authorities now have 45 days to do so.
After the ECJ ruling, Budapest threatened to bring refugees and migrants to Brussels. “If Brussels wants migrants, it has to get them,” said Hungarian Prime Minister Gergely Gulyas, a close Orbán ally.
Green MEP Daniel Freund immediately welcomed the Commission’s decision. “The Commission must maintain a strong stance,” he said. EU funds could flow back to Hungary when EU law is implemented.
Hungary hoped to negotiate
Gulyas described the situation created by the ruling as “unacceptable, intolerable and undignified.” Hungary hopes to resolve the situation through negotiations with the European Commission. His country is also considering using litigation to force the EU to share in the costs of protecting its borders from illegal immigrants.
In the summer of 2015, Hungary erected a barbed wire fence on its borders with Serbia and Croatia amid the refugee crisis, resulting in only a small number of irregular migrants entering via the Balkan route.
notification: This report is part of an automated service of the German Press Agency (dpa), which operates under strict journalistic regulations. The AZ Online editorial team does not edit or check it. Please send questions or comments to Feedback@az-muenchen.de.
