In response to heavy fines imposed on Hungary by the European Court of Justice for its strict asylum policies, the country’s anti-immigration government has announced that it is willing to provide free one-way tickets to Brussels for migrants and asylum seekers attempting to enter the European Union. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, criticized the ruling by the European Court of Justice, which ordered Hungary to pay a fine of 200 million euros and an additional 1 million euros per day until it aligns its policies with EU law. Gulyás accused Brussels of trying to force Hungary to accept migrants against its will, and threatened to transport migrants to Brussels free of charge if the EU continues to impose regulations that prevent Hungary from detaining migrants at the border.
Hungary has implemented strict measures to prevent people from entering the country since a large influx of over 1 million migrants entered Europe in 2015, most of them fleeing conflict in Syria. The country has built fences protected by razor wire on its borders with Serbia and Croatia, as well as transit zones on its border with Serbia, which have since been closed. However, the EU has criticized Hungary’s asylum system for requiring asylum seekers to travel to its embassies in Serbia or Ukraine to apply for a travel permit, a violation of EU rules that mandate common procedures for granting asylum.
Despite the fines imposed by the European Court of Justice, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a right-wing populist leader who has been at odds with the EU, has vowed not to change Hungary’s migration and asylum policies. Gulyás criticized the fines incurred by Hungary, stating that the country does not want to pay the daily fine indefinitely, and therefore is willing to allow people to enter and offer them one-way tickets to Brussels if they wish to do so. This move by Hungary to transport migrants to Brussels as a form of protest against the EU’s asylum regulations echoes similar actions taken by Republican governors in the United States, who have bussed or flown undocumented immigrants to Democratic strongholds in protest of federal asylum procedures.
The ongoing dispute between Hungary and the EU over migration and asylum policies highlights the deep divisions within the bloc regarding how to handle the influx of migrants and asylum seekers. Hungary’s defiance of EU regulations and its willingness to transport migrants to Brussels as a form of protest underscores the challenges faced by European leaders in finding common ground on this issue. As the standoff between Hungary and the EU continues, the implications of this conflict for the future of migration and asylum policies in Europe remain uncertain.
The Hungarian government’s offer of free one-way tickets to Brussels for migrants and asylum seekers represents a bold and controversial response to the EU’s fines over its restrictive asylum policies. By challenging the EU’s authority and threatening to transport migrants as a form of protest, Hungary is signaling its determination to uphold its own policies on immigration, regardless of the consequences. As tensions escalate between Hungary and the EU, the implications of this showdown for the broader debate on migration and asylum in Europe are yet to be seen.
