According to the constitutional lawyer, Brussels exerts strong political pressure on Hungary to change its migration policy.
"Brussels exerts strong political coercion on Hungary, demanding that we change the migration policy as a kind of political expectation dressed in a legal robe," said to Magyar Nemzet, about the two hundred million euros (about eighty billion forints) imposed on Hungary by the Court of the European Union. The fine was imposed because Hungary "does not respect" EU legislation, among other things in the area of procedures for granting international protection and the return of citizens of non-EU countries illegally staying in the territory of the EU.
The court takes the position of Brussels
According to Zoltán Lomnici Jr., Brussels is manipulating events to influence the decisions of the member states' governments, especially in the case of Hungary, which strongly refuses to accept migrants. Lomnici believes that the EU power elite cannot accept the Hungarian government's and the Hungarian people's firm stance against migration, which is why they are trying to use financial penalties to force Hungary to comply with EU asylum rules. The court argued that the Hungarian government violated EU law by establishing transit zones where access to the procedure for international protection was restricted. However, according to Lomnici
the court actually represents the position of Brussels and oversteps its authority to use legal instruments to try to force Hungary to admit migrants.
According to Lomnici, the court ignored the fact that the transit zones are no longer functioning and evaluated the procedures initiated to respect Hungary's Basic Law as an aggravating circumstance. The court also did not take into account Hungary's compelling argument that Article 260 (1) of the EU Treaty does not specify a specific deadline for fulfilling the judgment of the European Court of Justice.
Lomnici emphasizes that there are clear contractual requirements for imposing a fine. The coercive fine can only be justified if the failure to comply with the provisions of the previous judgment persists until the court examines it. However, the court did not take into account the fact that Hungary has never failed to comply with the court's judgment. According to Lomnici, the court should have taken into account the solvency of the Member State concerned and the proportionality of the established breach of obligation.
Featured image: Constitutional lawyer Zoltán Lomnici Jr. gives a speech at a demonstration held in front of the European Commission's representation in Budapest on June 14, 2024. Publicist Zsolt Bayer organized a demonstration to protest the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union, according to which Hungary must pay a lump sum of 200 million euros and an additional penalty of 1 million euros per day for violating EU asylum rules. MTI/Zoltán Balogh
