EU cuts funds to Hungary over unpaid asylum fine

The European Union has begun the process of reclaiming hundreds of millions of euros meant for Hungary after the country's government refused to pay a significant fine for violating the bloc’s asylum rules.

In June, the EU’s top court ordered Hungary to pay 200 million euros ($223 million) for denying migrants the right to apply for asylum. The court also imposed a fine of 1 million euros per day for Hungary’s continued non-compliance. The European Court of Justice called Hungary’s actions "an unprecedented and grave infringement of EU law."

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán dismissed the ruling as “outrageous and unacceptable.” Since Hungary has neither paid the fine nor provided information on its intentions, the European Commission is initiating a process to recover the money by deducting it from EU funds designated for Hungary.

“We will deduct the 200 million euros from upcoming payments from the EU budget to Hungary,” said Balazs Ujvari, a spokesman for the commission. Ujvari added that the commission has also demanded payment for the accumulated daily fines, totaling 93 million euros ($103 million).

Hungary’s nationalist government has maintained a hard stance on immigration since 2015 when more than a million migrants, mostly fleeing Syria, arrived in Europe. The case stems from changes Hungary made to its asylum system during that time, which included erecting border fences and establishing transit zones for holding asylum seekers. The European Court of Justice ruled in 2020 that these measures restricted access to asylum and unlawfully detained applicants.

Despite the closure of the transit zones, Hungary's policies continued to violate EU law, prompting the European Commission to seek fines. Further complicating matters, Hungary introduced a 2020 law requiring asylum seekers to apply for travel permits at embassies in Belgrade or Kyiv before entering the country, a move also criticized by the EU.

Hungary now faces financial penalties and a loss of EU funding as the commission works to enforce compliance with its asylum regulations.

Source: AP News