The European Court of Justice once again reprimands Hungary for the way it treats asylum seekers. On Tuesday, the Luxembourg court ruled that Hungary’s law declaring asylum applications inadmissible when petitioners have reached Hungary through another safe country goes against European agreements. Asylum seekers may not be referred back to that other country without a procedure. Only the European procedure directive determines the grounds on which migrants can be exempted from an asylum procedure, according to the Court.
Hungary also violates European law by criminalizing helping people with such asylum applications. Hungary deters asylum lawyers and NGOs from assisting migrants with a threat of prison. Hungary introduced several laws to keep refugees out during and after the 2015 migration crisis. It also built a fence on the border with Serbia and created a buffer zone from which people were sent back.
Pushbacks by Poland
Tuesday’s verdict is in line with previous court rulings and criticisms by the European Commission of Hungary’s migration policy, but it comes at a spicy moment as the Polish government is now pushing large numbers of migrants back across the border into Belarus without their asylum applications. to be taken into consideration. About these so-called pushbacks did the Commission say? that they “should never become legal,” but not harshly condemned them. Nor has the Commission threatened to take Poland to the European Court for the pushbacks so far.
With regard to Hungary, the strict line is maintained in Brussels. On Friday, the Commission asked the European Court to impose a penalty payment on the government of Viktor Orbán for ignoring a previous verdict. At the end of last year, the Court condemned pushbacks by Hungary, but the country has not amended its legislation since. The Commission still wants to enforce this with a fine.
Hungary’s counter
The Hungarian government, meanwhile, has taken the flight forward and – following Poland’s lead – has deployed its own Constitutional Court to undermine European judgments. The politically hijacked Constitutional Court in Warsaw last month ruled that Polish laws are above European law and that the government can therefore ignore rulings from Luxembourg. Poland has received two fines from the European Court, but refuses to pay them.
Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga asked the also political court in Budapest in February to end the European pushback judgment because it “affects Hungarian sovereignty”. On Monday, the Hungarian Constitutional Court held its first hearing on the issue. When Hungary and Poland joined the European Union in 2004, they accepted that European law takes precedence over national law. However, the conservative nationalist governments in both countries try to escape this in various ways.
Read also this analysis on the EU and the migration crisis
#European #Court #Hungary #takes #action #asylum #seekers