Hungary officially requested an exemption from EU rules on asylum and migration, Minister for European Union Affairs János Boka said, according to bne IntelliNews.
In a letter addressed to European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, he said that Hungary, like the Netherlands, was seeking to withdraw from EU rules on asylum and migration in the event of future amendments to the treaty.
We believe that restoring stronger national control over migration is currently the only way to achieve our goals and effectively halt illegal migration.
Boka also said Hungary remained committed to the Schengen area, which “has unfortunately become fragmented” due to illegal migration and the widespread introduction of internal border controls.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government ignored a summer CJEU ruling on the implementation of EU asylum procedures. In June, the EU’s highest court ordered Hungary to pay €200m and a fine of €1m per day. However, the amount has already exceeded €300m and continues to grow.
In response, the European Commission said it would initiate a “compensation procedure” to deduct the fine from Hungary’s next payment of EU funds, prompting an angry reaction from Orbán.
If they continue to punish us, we will transport the migrants from Budapest to Brussels and leave them at the Brussels offices.
