According to a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Hungary is violating EU law with another asylum rule.
The possibility of submitting an asylum application has been excessively difficult, judges decided this Thursday in Luxembourg. Due to its strict refugee policy, Hungary has often been EU Commission scolded. O CEJ it has already brought down significant parts of the Hungarian asylum system in previous trials.
The background of the current decision is a law that Hungary passed in 2020 because of the corona pandemic. Thus, certain third-country nationals or stateless persons had to a preliminary procedure for an asylum application go through. Those affected should go to Hungarian Embassies in Belgrade or Kyiv, in order to personally submit a declaration of intent to apply for asylum. Hungarian authorities could then decide whether to allow those seeking protection to enter Hungary to apply for asylum there.
violation of EU law
The EU Commission saw this regulation as a breach of EU law and sued Hungary. The ECJ has now agreed with the EU Commission: the regulation denies those affected the right to seek asylum in Hungary. A prior declaration of intent is not provided for in EU law and does not guarantee effective and speedy access to the asylum procedure. The measure is also not adequate to contain the corona pandemic, according to the judges.