The ECJ ruled that Hungary's assertion that asylum seekers are entitled to international protection in Hungary only if they arrive directly from an unsafe country breached EU law.Continue reading
Hungary’s current government, as long as it is in power, “will enforce the will of the Hungarian people and prevent Hungary from becoming an immigrant country,” Zoltan Kovács said on Tuesday.
Referring to today’s European Court ruling that Hungary’s criminalisation of help given to people in making their claim for asylum breaches EU law, the state secretary for international communications and relations said on Facebook that the “Stop Soros” law passed in 2018, which made organizing and financing illegal migration punishable, had succeeded in preventing the mass influx of migrants.
Referring to public surveys carried out in Hungary, Kovács said the law had the steadfast support of the Hungarian people.
He said the “pro-immigration left” had savaged the law and, under pressure from the Soros Open Society Foundations, the European Commission launched infringement proceedings against Hungary.
Kovács said Hungary respected the European Court of Justice’s ruling regarding the Stop Soros package of laws, but Hungary reserved the right to take action against foreign-funded NGOs, including any activities by organizations funded by George Soros seeking political influence or promoting migration.
Hungary’s position on migration, he said, had not changed — namely, that help should be given at the location of the problem.
Kovács said Hungary and the Hungarian Stop Soros law still presented obstacles to pro-migration plans, and he insisted that the EU still wanted Hungary to give free rein to migrants and the Soros organizations “managing migration”.
Hungary will continue to protect its own borders and the borders of Europe, the justice minister said on Tuesday, in response to the European Court ruling earlier in the day that Hungary’s criminalization of help given to people in making their claim for asylum breaches EU law.
In her English-language post on Facebook, Judit Varga noted that the EU Court of Justice upheld the European Commission’s ruling regarding certain elements of the “Stop Soros” law package.
Varga said she regretted that the EU court did not take Hungary’s professional arguments into account.
“We all know that to the Brussels bureaucracy, the thorn in the flesh was the fact that we criminalised the promotion and facilitation of illegal immigration, as we do not want foreign NGOs to organize illegal migration to Europe,” she said.
“In today’s judgment, the Court stated what we would never have thought: Hungary must practically support human trafficking,” said Varga.
“What happens next? Will Member States be punished simply for protecting the continent from mass migration? We no longer have any illusions, but one thing is certain: we will continue to defend Europe. Whether the Brussels bubble likes it or not!”, the justice minister said.
In the featured photo: the Orbán government’s international spokesman, Zoltán Kovács. Photo by Tibor Illyés/MTI
