Hungary will claim reimbursement of border protection costs, said Gergely Gulyás following Wednesday's cabinet meeting.Continue reading
The European Commission will start deducting from EU funds to Hungary the EUR 200 million fine imposed by the Court of Justice of the European Union after the Hungarian government failed to pay the sum on time, a Commission spokesman said on Wednesday.
The deadline for paying the fine of EUR 200 million, imposed by the court on June 13, expired on September 17. Tuesday was the second deadline, after Hungary failed to meet the first.
In response to a question, spokesman Balázs Újvári stressed
the committee was examining whether, if Hungary failed to pay, the amount would be deducted in one installment or in stages from the allocations for Hungary.
#ECJ: #Hungary is ordered to pay a lump sum of € 200 million and a penalty payment of € 1 million per day of delay for failure to comply with the Court of Justice’s judgment of 17 December 2020 #asylum https://t.co/ATb3CgbPxg
— EU Court of Justice (@EUCourtPress) June 13, 2024
On the EUR 1 million daily fine, he noted that the Hungarian authorities should have informed the committee by September 13 on how they had tried to bring their procedures into line with those required by the court, but had not replied. “As the committee has not received a reply, we have sent the first payment request,” the spokesman added.
The fine currently stands at EUR 93 million, covering the period from the June 13 ruling to September 17, and Hungary has 45 days to pay it,
he highlighted.
As reported earlier, in June, the Court of Justice of the European Union ordered Hungary to pay the EUR 200 million for “failing to respect” EU law, including “including in the area of procedures for granting international protection and returning illegally staying non-EU nationals.”
In addition, it also ordered it to pay a penalty payment of EUR 1 million for each day of delay in complying with the rules, for failing to comply with a judgment of the court in December 2020 on the grounds of non-compliance with the provisions of the Reception Conditions Directive.
The #ECJ’s decision to fine #Hungary with 200M euros plus 1M euros daily(!!!) for defending the borders of the European Union is outrageous and unacceptable. It seems that illegal #migrants are more important to the Brussels bureaucrats than their own European citizens.
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) June 13, 2024
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reacted to the ruling after it was announced, calling it “outrageous and unacceptable.” “It seems that illegal migrants are more important to the Brussels bureaucrats than their own European citizens,” the politician wrote in a post on X.
Via MTI; Featured image via Pixabay