Connect with us

Hungary

Frontex suspends operations in Hungary following EU top court ruling

SHARE:

Published

on

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. You can unsubscribe at any time.

The European Union's border agency, Frontex, on Wednesday (26 January) suspended its operations in Hungary following a ruling by the EU's top court that the country had broken EU laws on protecting vulnerable migrants and refugees, Frontex said, writes Jan Strupczewski in Brussels.

"Following the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decision and after legal assessment and relevant consultations, Frontex has decided to suspend all its operational activities on the ground in Hungary," the agency said.

"Frontex looks forward to resuming its activities in Hungary after the CJEU decision is implemented in national legislation," the agency said in a statement.

The suspension, which is likely to be in force until Hungary is again compliant with EU immigration laws, means about 40 Frontex staff including border guards will return to their home units, in Hungary or other EU countries.

The Court of Justice of the European Union said on 17 December that Hungary had broken EU laws on protecting vulnerable migrants and refugees by denying them a right to apply for asylum and forcibly deporting people to the Serbian border.

The ruling, which legally requires Hungary to change its policy or potentially face fines, was the latest rejection by EU institutions of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's anti-immigration measures since a migration crisis in 2015.

The EU court rejected Hungary's view that the migration crisis, when millions of people fled the Middle East and North Africa for Europe, was a justification for breaching EU rules in the name of public order.

During the peak of the crisis, Orban ordered Hungary's southern border to be sealed, blocking a route for hundreds of thousands of migrants and trapping people in so-called migrant transit zones on its borders until May this year.

Advertisement

Share this article:

Share this:
EU Reporter publishes articles from a variety of outside sources which express a wide range of viewpoints. The positions taken in these articles are not necessarily those of EU Reporter. Please see EU Reporter’s full Terms and Conditions of publication for more information EU Reporter embraces artificial intelligence as a tool to enhance journalistic quality, efficiency, and accessibility, while maintaining strict human editorial oversight, ethical standards, and transparency in all AI-assisted content. Please see EU Reporter’s full A.I. Policy for more information.

Trending