Hungary fined €200M for breaking EU asylum rules

Budapest’s inaction “constitutes an unprecedented and exceptionally serious breach of EU law,” the court said.

Along with the €200 million fine, Hungary will be fined an additional €1 million per day that it fails to comply with the court’s judgment. If Budapest refuses to pay the fines, they can be deducted from its share of the EU budget, as was the case with Poland.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán lashed out at Thursday’s judgment, calling it “outrageous and unacceptable” in a post on X.

“It seems that illegal migrants are more important to the Brussels bureaucrats than their own European citizens,” he added.

Hungary has taken a hard line on asylum seekers entering the country, with Orbán’s government passing a law in 2020 forcing migrants to first apply for protection at embassies outside its borders.