The European Commission will start deducting the 200 million euro fine from the funding payable to Hungary as the country has failed to pay by the deadline, the EC’s spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The second deadline of payment of the fine imposed in a ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union on June 13, after Hungary missed the first, was on September 17.
Balázs Ujvári said the Commission was mulling whether to deduct one lump sum or instalments.
Photo: FB/EuropeanCommission
In connection with a daily fine of 1 million euros, Hungary was also required to notify the EC on measures it would take to align its procedures with those ordered by the CJEU which imposed the fine in connection with the country’s migration practices, Ujvari said. The Hungarian authorities have given no response, and so the EC has sent the first request for payment, Ujvari said. The fine for the period between June 13 and September 17 comes to 93 million euros, and Hungary has 45 days to pay it, he added.
In the ruling issued last December, the CJEU said Hungary was “not respecting” EU legislation, including those on international asylum and on returning illegal immigrants to their home countries.
‘Manhunt’ against politicians who reject migration, FM Szijjártó says
A “manhunt” for politicians and governments that reject migration is under way, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in Budapest on Wednesday, referring to the EU’s “huge fine” levied on Hungary and the six-year prison sentence sought for Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy PM.
“Brussels now runs a pro-migration policy, so a manhunt is under way for politicians and governments that reject this,” the minister said, responding to a journalist’s question at a joint press conference with Serbia’s economy minister.
“So we’re having to pay a huge fine for protecting our border, and that’s also why they’re seeking prison sentence of more than a half-decade for the Italian deputy prime minister,” he said, adding: “Are we living in a normal world? Has everyone here in Europe totally lost their minds?”
Salvini, he said, was a responsible politician who had chosen to protect his country and enforce its laws which determined who can enter Italian territory.
Hungary, he added, was being punished for protecting its borders, and yet “no one says a word about” the fact that Germany has closed the internal Schengen borders.
The Schengen area works only if the external borders are protected, he said. “We are now being punished for this,” he added.
Fidesz MEP: PfE group expresses solidarity with Salvini
The European parliamentary group Patriots for Europe are standing by Italian deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, the leader of the League party, against whom prosecutors are seeking a 6-year prison term, Fidesz MEP Kinga Gál, the deputy leader of PfE, said on Tuesday.
Gál said it was “unacceptable” that “decision-makers protecting their own countries and citizens, and Europe’s external borders, are threatened with prison”. Border protection is a duty, “Schengen doesn’t work without it”, she said.
Gál, who also heads the Fidesz MEP group, told a press conference on the sidelines of the EP plenary that Brussels and the European Commission should support border protection “in principle and in material support”. She called on the EC to support all political forces protecting country borders and so European citizens.
PfE had proposed including Salvini’s case in the EP plenary’s agenda, but the EP rejected it “as an incredible and outrageous request”, she said.
“Borders must be protected, and the ships of NGOs must be monitored and their operations limited,” Gál said. “The only way to return to common sense is to scrap the flawed migration pact and declare the protection of external borders a priority,” she said.
Then-Interior Minister Salvini turned away Open Arms, a Spanish vessel operated by an NGO carrying 147 people, from the port of Lampedusa in August 2019. The ship was forced to wait in open waters for 19 days, when the prosecutor’s office in Agrigento, Sicily, allowed the passengers to come to shore. A year later, the Italian parliament lifted Salvini’s immunity in the procedure where he had been accused of hostage-taking, abuse of power, violation of international conventions, and other crimes.
Salvini said on Facebook he was proud to have been protecting Italy’s borders and would do so again if necessary.
A ruling in the case is expected in October.
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6 Comments
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Fidesz throws away the money of Hungarians for nothing. It’s a trainwreck of a government..
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Keep it up, EUrogarbage. The people are watching, taking note(s), and waiting. This won’t hurt Hungary; it’ll hurt those operating against Hungary.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Huxit is coming, mark my words, no matter how devastating it would be for the country. The narrative will be framed along culture war and monetary lines. The EU imposes an ‘unfair’ fine on Hungary on a politically sensitive matter, Hungary doesn’t pay so the EU deducts the fine from money that would otherwise flow to Hungary, the net monetary flow becomes too small to warrant towing the line when it comes to EU membership while exit from the EU’s structures give the government and its power base a free hand to conduct itself however it likes without oversight and difficult questions being asked. The narrative will be that Huxit is in the national interests even if it causes a ‘temporary’ downside for the economy. The economic effects will be downplayed, Hungary can turn east and find new partners to pick up the slack, ‘sovereignity’ is too valuable to prioritise economic interests, bla bla. I’ve seen this playbook unfold recently in the UK, the long term ramifications are devastating for the wider population but the power brokers don’t care as it vastly increases their room to manoeuvre, as well their personal wealth. I think the government would quite like exit routes from Hungary closed off, forcing the educated young to work at home or to oblige them to go to herculean efforts to source work visas in order to emigrate, the vast majority of the working population wouldn’t be entitled anyway as they don’t possess the right skills. At a stroke the labour shortage is solved and upward pressure on salaries arising from comparison with wages elsewhere that people presently can easily avail themselves of vanishes. The advantages for the government are endless while 95% of the population will be serious losers.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I know! I know! We can have a Europe of individual Fatherlands. It will be like the good old days!
Whomever said this, I agree: “Every Government Department Needs a Resident Historian” – so errors of past years may be avoided.
Ivor Crewe and Anthony King “The Blunders of our Governments” (2013)
UK context, cheap as chips on Amazon, shocking read (there is an entertainment factor – given its the Brits and not us being judged).
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
“High Security and Metal Detectors at Germany’s Oktoberfest After Knife Attack,” This is what the EU want for Hungary. Prior to 2015, Germany never had to use metal detectors at festivals. Not until the country allowed the settlement of may thousands of Muslims and other migrants. Since 2015, the standard of living of Germans was reduced due to the costs of supporting migrants.
There is no country that accepted uneducated migrants in the EU, UK or North America that benefitted by migration.
Hungary should just resign from EU court of justice, staffed by Hungary haters. Hungary should never attend their court and have nothing to do with them.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
EC is the European court of injustice, a totally politicized entity.