On Thursday, the EU’s top court fined Hungary 200 million euros and imposed a daily one-million-euro penalty for not adhering to the bloc’s asylum laws and for deporting migrants illegally. Hungary’s government called the decision “unacceptable.”
The European Court of Justice stated that Hungary has been deliberately avoiding compliance with EU laws, despite a 2020 ruling that mandated Hungary to follow international asylum procedures.
“This failure to fulfil obligations constitutes an unprecedented and exceptionally serious breach of EU law,” the court said, ordering Hungary to pay the substantial fines.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, known for his frequent clashes with Brussels, expressed outrage at the ruling.
“The ECJ’s decision to fine Hungary with 200M euros plus 1M euros daily for defending the borders of the European Union is outrageous and unacceptable,” Orban wrote on social media. “It seems that illegal migrants are more important to the Brussels bureaucrats than their own European citizens,” he added.
‘Principle of Solidarity’
Orban has consistently opposed allowing asylum seekers into Hungary, despite EU and international laws requiring fair consideration of protection requests. Alongside Poland and the Czech Republic, Hungary has previously been condemned by EU courts for refusing to accept refugee quotas established under a 2015 EU program.
Hungary has continued to restrict migrants’ access to the asylum process and has not upheld their right to stay in the country while their applications are processed. As a result, the court sided with the European Commission’s request for a fine, noting that Hungary’s actions “seriously undermine the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility between the member states.”
EU countries are required to present national plans by December on implementing new asylum rules set to take effect in 2026. These rules aim to strengthen the bloc’s borders, introducing quicker vetting procedures and accelerated deportations for ineligible asylum seekers.
New border centers will be established to hold migrants while their asylum requests are reviewed. The rules also require EU countries to either take in thousands of asylum-seekers from “frontline” states like Italy and Greece or provide financial and other resources to these overburdened nations.
Hungary has resisted these new rules, particularly the requirement to share the responsibility for asylum-seekers, arguing that its strict approach is necessary to protect the European Union.
