Hungary repeats calls for EU asylum rule exemption

In a letter to @YlvaJohansson Hungary, like NL🇳🇱 requested opt-out from EU’s asylum & migration acquis should a Treaty amendment take place in the future & will initiate the appropriate procedures to this effect. At the same time, HU🇭🇺 remains committed to the Schengen Area. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/cvxUhBAKIB

— Bóka János (@JanosBoka_HU) October 7, 2024

Boka called for an amendment to EU treaties, allowing members to be exempted from rules governing the borders of member states. 

“Hungary believes that re-establishing a stronger national control over migration is now the only option to … effectively stem illegal migration,” he said in the letter to Johansson, claiming that irregular entries pose “a threat to national security.”

Boka added that his country wasn’t alone in this view and stressed that its request to be exempted from EU rules on asylum followed the example of the Netherlands, whose government had expressed similar doubts.

He added that procedures to this end needed to be established soon, and implied that the Hungarian and Dutch governments might also explore ways to lodge such withdrawal requests together. 

However, Boka also stressed that Hungary remained committed to being part of the visa-free Schengen Area.

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Hungary and Netherlands seek special status

Hungary’s far-right government has repeatedly clashed with the EU over the issue of immigration and Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been pursuing anti-migrant policies for some years.

European Minister Boka had already expressed the Hungarian government’s intention to withdraw from the EU asylum rules last month at around the same time as the Netherlands’ application.

In the Netherlands, the ruling coalition has already been tightening its asylum rules, and immigration in general.

Freedom Party populist Geert Wilders said that being exempted from the EU’s asylum rules would send an important signal, “that a new wind is blowing in the Netherlands.”

Populist Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders wants to change the Netherlands’ asylum system – even though he chose not to become prime minister | Photo: ReutersNot enough support for exemption

However, it is unlikely that the two countries will succeed with the motion. To qualify for any special treatment, all 27 EU states would need to back the proposals of Hungary and the Netherlands to opt out of EU asylum standards.

Furthermore, the EU had already agreed on a new asylum system almost a year ago and is about to start implementing it in practice. 

Any unilateral attempts by Hungary to go its own course on asylum issues will be punished, as precedent has shown: Last month, the EU said it was going to withhold 200 million euros in funds for Budapest after the Hungarian government failed to pay a fine for violating asylum rules.

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Orban goes to Brussels

The developments come as Orban heads to the European Parliament. While migration is not only topic on his agendy, it might just be the most divisive, particularly after his government threatened to send asylum seekers on busses to Brussels to protest the bloc’s migration policies.

With Hungary currently running the revolving presidency of the bloc, disagreements between Brussels and Budapest have been mounting in the past few months, though since Orban’s ascent to power in 2010, there have repeatedly been major issues focusing on human and civil rights in Hungary as well as the rule of law.

Hungarian Prime Minister and President of EU Council Viktor Orban waves at supporters as he attends the League’s annual gathering in Pontida, north of Milan, Italy, October 6, 2024 | Photo: Antonio Calanni / picture alliance

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has even ordered some of her top officials to effectively boycott some meetings organized by Orban and his ministers in recent months, accusing the Hungarian leader of hijacking the EU to his own ends while running the presidency.

Orban shared a social media post on Sunday ahead of his trip to Brussels, highlighting the shift to the far-right across Europe. He said that electoral gains of populists across the bloc — from Italy to the Netherlands and Austria — were setting a new agenda.

“We should not withdraw from Brussels, but occupy it,” he wrote in his controversial post. “We will take back Brussels from the bureaucrats and return it to the European people!”

with AFP, dpa

Source link : https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/60415/hungary-repeats-calls-for-eu-asylum-rule-exemption

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Publish date : 2024-10-08 12:33:57

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