BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) 鈥 Hungary's anti-immigration government is prepared to provide free one-way tickets to Brussels for migrants and asylum seekers attempting to enter the European Union, a minister said Thursday in response to hefty fines recently imposed on the country over its restrictive asylum policies.
Speaking at a news conference in Budapest, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n's chief of staff, Gergely Guly谩s, criticized a June ruling by the European Court of Justice that for persistently breaking the bloc鈥檚 asylum rules, and an additional 1 million euros per day until it brings its policies into line with EU law.
鈥淏russels wants to force us at any cost to let migrants in,鈥 Guly谩s said, referring to the EU's headquarters in Belgium.
He said that if the EU continues to force regulations on Hungary that 鈥渄oes not make it possible to detain migrants at the border,鈥 his country will offer every migrant 鈥渢ransport to Brussels free of charge.鈥
Hungary鈥檚 anti-immigrant government has taken a hard line on people entering the country since well over 1 million people entered Europe in 2015, most of them fleeing conflict in Syria. The country built fences protected by razor wire on its southern borders with Serbia and Croatia and a pair of transit zones for holding asylum seekers on its border with Serbia. Those transit zones have since closed.
But the EU has taken issue with Hungary's unusually rigid asylum system, and asked the bloc's top court to fine Budapest for forcing people seeking international protection to to apply for a travel permit, a violation of EU rules that oblige all member countries to have common procedures for granting asylum.
Orb谩n, a right-wing populist who is consistently at odds with the EU, has earlier vowed that Hungary regardless of any rulings from the European Court of Justice.
On Thursday, Guly谩s blasted the fines Hungary has incurred over its asylum system, saying: 鈥淗ungary doesn鈥檛 want to pay this daily fine indefinitely, so we will make it possible for people to enter if they want, and will offer them a one-way ticket to Brussels.鈥
鈥淚f Brussels wants migrants, then it can have them," he continued.
Hungary's threat to transport migrants to Brussels mirrors similar moves from Republican governors in the United States, who since 2022 have to Democratic strongholds like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago in protest of federal asylum procedures.
