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EU to withhold €200 million from Hungary over asylum fine

September 18, 2024

The EU Commission says it will withhold funds for Hungary after Budapest failed to pay a fine for violating asylum rules. Prime Minister Viktor Orban's nationalist Fidesz government has taken a hard line on migration

https://p.dw.com/p/4knxy
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban
The EU Commission says it is withholding funds for Hungary after the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban (pictured) failed to comply with rules for the treatment of asylum seekersImage: Meng Dingbo/Xinhua/dpa/picture alliance

The EU said on Wednesday that it planned to withhold €200 million ($222 million) in funds earmarked for Hungary.

It said that Budapest had failed to pay an equivalent fine for violating international asylum rules.

Cour de Justice de l'Union Europeene sign at ECJ in Luxembourg
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) fined Hungary for violating asylum rulesImage: Patrick Scheiber/imago

What do we know about the withheld funds?

In June, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) fined Hungary for failing to comply with a 2020 ruling on upholding international procedures for asylum-seekers.

A deadline to settle the penalty expired on Tuesday.

"That means that the commission is in accordance to the applicable rules moving to what we call the offsetting procedure," European Commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari told journalists.

"So what we're going to do now is to deduct the 200 million euros from upcoming payments from the EU budget towards Hungary."

In December 2020, the ECJ found that Hungary had not allowed asylum-seekers to leave detention while their cases were being considered.

The ruling said that Hungary also did not offer special protections for children and other vulnerable people.

The court said in June that Budapest has continued to restrict migrants' ability to request asylum and has not upheld their right to stay while their cases are processed.

Fidesz supporters hold Hungarian flags outside of EU Comission local headquarters in Budapest during protest
The ECJ's decision to fine Hungary angered supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's nationalist Fidesz partyImage: ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP

Budapest and Brussels frequently at loggerheads

Hungary's government, which is run by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's nationalist Fidesz party, has taken a hard line on migration since the 2015 refugee crisis.

Budapest has also frequently but heads with the EU over the rule of law and the war in Ukraine.

In March, the ECJ said it would investigate an EU Comission decision to unfreeze funds that had been withheld from Hungary over alleged rule of law breaches.

In July, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused Orban of "appeasement" after the Hungarian premier met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

sdi/jgc (AFP, dpa, AP)