The European Court of Justice has imposed fines in the billions on Hungary for "deliberately circumventing" EU asylum laws.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is furious about the decision – and vows not to give in to the EU's "blackmail".
Hungary has been ordered to pay a lump sum of 200 million euros, equivalent to over 2.2 billion Swedish kronor. Additionally, a penalty of over 11 million kronor per day will be imposed for each day the country continues to breach EU regulations – starting today.
"The decision is outrageous and unacceptable. We will not give in to the economic blackmail of Brussels bureaucrats", Orbán comments in a Facebook post.
The ruling comes after the EU Commission took Hungary to court for refusing to allow asylum seekers to apply for asylum in the country.
"Serious infringement"
As early as December 2020, the European Court of Justice ruled that Hungary had not followed the EU's statutory procedures for asylum seekers and had illegally deported migrants. At the time, the government in Budapest had just introduced a law requiring migrants or refugees seeking asylum to undergo an additional process in a neighbouring country first.
Now, Hungary is being fined for failing to take adequate measures since the 2020 ruling.
Hungary's failure to comply with EU policy constitutes an "unprecedented and extremely serious infringement of EU law", according to the European Court of Justice in a statement. The country is undermining the principle of solidarity and the distribution of responsibilities among EU member states, they argue.
Building fences
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been a vocal critic of the EU's refugee policy over the past decade and has led Eastern European resistance to refugee quotas for EU countries.
Orbán and his nationalist ruling party Fidesz have accused migrants of threatening "European Christian civilisation" and built a long fence along the country's southern border to prevent asylum seekers from entering the country.
In parallel, the government in Budapest has systematically dismantled the country's democratic institutions, which has been met with criticism from the EU and several human rights organisations.
Viktor Orbán, born 1963, has been Hungary's Prime Minister since May 2010, when his conservative party Fidesz won over 50 per cent of the votes. He also led the country as Prime Minister from 1998 to 2002.
Fidesz was founded as a liberal youth movement in 1988 but has become increasingly conservative over the years.
Orbán has been heavily criticised abroad for increasing government control over the media, universities, and courts, his harsh tone towards migrants and LGBTQ+ individuals, and his close relationships with authoritarian regimes in Russia and China.
However, several years of economic growth have made him popular at home. Many Hungarians see Orbán as a strong force against the EU leadership, which is often portrayed in Hungary as a threat to national sovereignty and Hungarian values.
