Migration secretary denounces Hungary's threat to send asylum seekers to Brussels
Secretary of state for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor has criticised the Hungarian government’s recent threats to send asylum seekers to Brussels. If Hungary were to carry out its threat, Belgium would not grant access to “migration flows instrumentalised in this way”, she said in a press release on Monday.
The Hungarian government first threatened to transport migrants to Brussels by bus in August, in response to a dispute with the EU over compliance with asylum rules. The European Court of Justice sentenced Hungary in June to a 200 million euro fine, supplemented by daily penalties, but Budapest does not want to pay.
State secretary Bence Rétvàri repeated the threat last week, posing in front of a number of buses with signs indicating “Röszke-Brüsszel”, the route that would take migrants from Hungary’s southern border to the EU’s headquarters.
"This would be a flagrant violation of European and international agreements"
Hungary will “voluntarily and free of charge offer these illegal migrants a single ticket to Brussels”. This would happen “after the implementation of the European procedure”, he said, without providing details.
De Moor expects the threat will remain “counterproductive grandstanding”. Should Hungary proceed with the implementation of its plans, however, migrants would illegally cross the territory of other member states to arrive illegally in Belgium, she said.
“This would be a flagrant violation of European and international agreements. Belgium will therefore not grant access to migratory flows instrumentalised in this way.”
She has asked Belgium’s ambassador to the EU to question his Hungarian counterpart on the matter and called on the European Commission to respond firmly to the “serious violation of the basic principles of European cooperation and mutual trust between EU member states”.
Fair and effective policy
“As member states of the European Union, we must work together for a fair, humane and effective migration policy,” she said. “Unilaterally passing off responsibility through threats of this kind undermines solidarity and cooperation within the Union.”
Brussels mayor Philippe Close has also voiced his opposition to the proposals from Budapest. “We will block these buses. They will not enter Brussels,” he said, asking prime minister Alexander De Croo and Interior minister Annelies Verlinden to ensure that, if the provocation was followed up, vehicles would be blocked at the border.
“Apart from the fact that we cannot play games with the fate of these people – Brussels is not the last European city to welcome migrants – Hungary must stop believing that the European Union is just a Bancontact,” he said.
Ukrainian refugees sit on the pavement close to their former shelter in the Hungarian village of Kocs, 21 August 2024 © PHOTO ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP
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