Hungary does not wish to change its asylum regulations, does not wish to dismantle the physical fence, and does not wish to abolish the legal border closure measures implemented to stop migrants, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Justice Ministry Pál Völner told the Hungarian news agency MTI on Friday.

The politician stressed the relevant laws were created in a way which is compatible with EU law, every item of the regulations contested by Brussels is fully in harmony with EU law, and Hungary is ready to engage in the next dispute with Brussels. He added that ever since the beginning of the flow of migration the EU has been trying to induce the government to change the tightened Hungarian asylum regulations and the legal border closure regulations which entered into force last March. The Hungarian government is not prepared to dismantle the border fence, and is likewise not prepared to make any compromise as regards the country’s stringent asylum regulations, Mr Völner pointed out.

He said they regard the latest procedure as an instrument for exerting political pressure “in order to remove Hungary from the path of the Soros plan”.

He pointed out that the relevant infringement procedure instituted against Hungary has been ongoing since December 2015; the government has been engaged in this legal dispute with Brussels ever since. Two months ago the European Commission announced that the procedure would enter into the next phase, and also supplemented it with concerns regarding the legal border closure measures. Brussels required the government to reply to its repeated questions by 8 February. The government sent its reply by the deadline set, on Thursday, in which it argues that it will not change the disputed regulations.

According to Mr Völner, a political decision is being made once again, and the Brussels Commission will go to the European Court also in this case, meaning that the Commission is expected to sue Hungary due to its asylum regulations. The politician stressed that in this procedure Brussels “wants to eliminate the transit zones and wants to prevent the expulsion of illegal migrants”.

(Ministry of Justice/MTI)