EU Slams Hungary with Massive Fine for Asylum Rule Breach

The European Union's top court has fined Hungary 200 million euros for persistent non-compliance with asylum rules, with additional daily fines for future violations. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán criticized the ruling, labeling it unacceptable. Hungary's strict anti-immigrant policies trace back to the 2015 migrant crisis.

The European Union's top court has imposed a substantial fine of 200 million euros (USD 216 million) on Hungary for consistently violating the bloc's asylum regulations, despite a prior ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Additionally, Hungary faces an extra 1 million euros fine for each day of continued non-compliance.

The ECJ stated in a press release that Hungary had failed to implement a 2020 ruling from top EU judges in Luxembourg. "That failure, which consists in deliberately avoiding the application of a common EU policy as a whole, constitutes an unprecedented and extremely serious infringement of EU law." Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán denounced the ruling as "outrageous and unacceptable." He argued that illegal migrants seem to be prioritized over European citizens by Brussels bureaucrats.

Hungary's stringent stance on immigration began after over 1 million people entered Europe in 2015, many fleeing conflict in Syria. The case revolves around changes to Hungary's asylum system made in the wake of that crisis, including the establishment of border fences and transit zones, which have since closed. The ECJ previously ruled in 2020 that Hungary's policies restricted access to international protection, unlawfully detained asylum applicants, and violated their right to remain in the country during the application process. Despite some closures of transit zones in 2020, the European Commission argued that Hungary continues to defy EU laws, leading to the recent fines.

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