Hungary has been ordered to pay a €200 million (£169 million) fine for failing to uphold refugee seekers’ rights, marking what the EU’s highest court called an “unprecedented” breach of EU law. The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg also mandated that Budapest pay €1 million daily until it adheres to EU refugee laws.
In a significant ruling issued on Thursday, the court accused Hungary of “deliberate evasion” of EU policy, describing it as an “unprecedented and exceptionally serious infringement of EU law” and a “significant threat to the unity of EU law and the principle of equality of the member states.” The fine was larger than what the European Commission, the EU executive, had sought when it brought Hungary to court. Judges cited “aggravating circumstances,” including repeated violations, contributing to the hefty penalty.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán denounced the ruling as “outrageous and unacceptable,” claiming, “It seems that illegal migrants are more important to the Brussels bureaucrats than their own European citizens.”
This legal decision comes just weeks before Hungary assumes the rotating presidency of the EU Council of Ministers, underscoring the challenge posed by nationalist, anti-EU leaders, especially as far-right parties gain ground in European elections in France, Germany, and Austria, and are likely to join the government in the Netherlands.
The judgment stems from a 2020 ruling that found Hungary had violated EU migration law by restricting refugees’ and migrants’ rights to claim asylum, including by detaining them in transit camps at Röszke and Tompa on the Serbia border. Although Hungary closed these camps and claimed compliance, it passed a 2020 law requiring asylum seekers to file a “declaration of intent” at a Hungarian embassy outside the EU before entering the country. Consequently, only 30 asylum applications were received in 2023, in stark contrast to Cyprus, which received 12,000 applications with a population ten times smaller.
The court ruled Hungary’s 2020 migration law breached EU asylum law and the Geneva conventions, which guarantee refugees’ rights, including protection from being returned to danger. It also found Hungary in violation of other EU laws, including the unlawful removal of denied asylum seekers without proper safeguards and preventing rejected applicants from staying in Hungary pending an appeal.
The court concluded that Hungary’s non-compliance “undermines in a particularly serious manner” the rights of non-EU nationals and stateless individuals by making it impossible for them to apply for refugee at the border. Additionally, judges criticized Hungary for waiting for a national constitutional court verdict before complying with the 2020 ruling, challenging the supremacy of EU law.
Hungary’s actions effectively shifted the responsibility and financial burden of handling asylum applications to other EU member states, “seriously undermining the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility,” the court said. The reference to an “unprecedented” breach relates to Hungary’s steadfast refusal to change its policy post-2020 ruling, reflected in the fine amount.
German Green MEP Daniel Freund criticized the Hungarian government, stating the judgment made Orbán “the most expensive prime minister in Hungarian history.”