June 15, 2024 - 8:00am

EU elections have confirmed a continent-wide shift to the Right, but a ruling handed down by the European Court of Justice against Hungary on Thursday has underlined how difficult it will still be to shift EU policy on key issues. The ECJ hit Budapest with a €200 million fine for breaking asylum laws and a €1 million daily fine for as long as it ignores the court’s judgements.

Hungary has a controversial approach to migration. Its policy has seen migrants deported before appeals against asylum rejections are processed, while requiring that they file asylum applications in embassies in neighbouring countries rather than at the border, which was found to be illegal by the ECJ in 2020. After being taken to court again by the European Commission for failing to comply with that judgement, the ECJ ruled that Hungary’s refusal to change constitutes “an unprecedented and extremely serious infringement of EU law” as Budapest is “deliberately avoiding the application of a common EU policy.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán makes no bones about his refusal to comply. Speaking on Hungarian radio on Friday, he claimed “the court of George Soros” had made a “blood-curdling” decision, calling the fine “an insane amount.” Orbán assured listeners he would see to it personally that “this will hurt Brussels more than us.”

While Hungarians are used to anti-EU rhetoric, the sheer animosity of Orbán’s response to the ruling was notable. He said the plan of the “Brussels bubble” is that “a continent with a mixed population will be created in Europe” in which “it’s okay if the whites run out.” While Hungarian politicians speak plainly, he said, Brussels bureaucrats are “sneaky” and “slimy”; in Belgium, “the one who speaks the truth stands out.”

The Hungarian leader’s frustration has been compounded by apparent double standards in the EU’s treatment of member states. Orbán’s view, that “being pro-peace means being against migration,” could also sum up the approach of Poland, where Donald Tusk’s pro-EU government is quietly renewing harsh border measures with Belarus which were initially enacted, amid great controversy, by the country’s previous Eurosceptic regime. NGOs claim Tusk’s government has been responsible for thousands of “pushbacks” of migrants since coming to power — yet the EU is de-escalating tensions with Warsaw and cancelling previous sanctions procedures.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has, meanwhile, sought collaboration with Italian leader Giorgia Meloni, striking deals with north African states to keep migrants out of the EU. Like all strong migration measures, these deals have come under fire from rights groups; they have reportedly led to terrifying “desert dumps,” in which migrants are rounded up and then left stranded in deserts or other remote areas.

Such inconsistencies make it tempting to look for other explanations for Hungary’s particular treatment, and there’s no doubt that EU fines make a strong political impact. Domestically, Orbán faces arguably his most serious challenger yet in Péter Magyar, a charismatic former Fidesz loyalist whose newly-formed party, Tisza, won almost 30% of the vote in EU elections. Magyar stands to win politically from further EU fines; he promises Orbán-style conservatism without the alleged corruption, incessant arguing with Brussels, or EU sanctions.

This promise seems implausible. The ECJ’s ruling proves that, notwithstanding a shift to the Right in public sentiment, the bloc’s legal framework remains inimical to strongly conservative migration policies. Public opinion is shifting closer to Orbán’s stance, but in the eyes of EU officials, this makes him no less worthy of punishment.


William Nattrass is a British journalist based in Prague and news editor of Expats.cz