Hungary is not prepared to implement a significant part of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) reform, as announced by the government in Budapest, according to reports by the “Welt” on Friday. This central pillar of the EU asylum reform concerns the fast asylum procedures at the EU external borders for migrants with little prospect of being granted a protection status.
The EU’s decision to oblige Hungary, in the first year of the new asylum legislation, to prepare almost a quarter of the total 30,000 places for fast asylum procedures at the EU’s external borders is “laughable and irrational” said European Minister Janos Boka to the “Welt”. “We will not do it on any account” he added.
The minister justified the decision, stating, “The mandate given by the Hungarian voters is clear: they do not want to see migrant camps in Hungary and therefore, we will not set them up. This is a clear voter mandate.”
According to the EU asylum reform, the measures of the new legislation package must be implemented by June 2026 at the latest. Only on Thursday, Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser (SPD), said in Warsaw, “Our top priority remains the swift implementation of the common asylum and migration package.”
Hungary is, according to a complex calculation, obliged to make 8,495 of the total 30,000 places for fast border procedures available in the first year of implementation, while Germany must provide 413 places, Italy 6,163 and Spain 3,510.
The measures of the new EU asylum package foresee that asylum seekers from countries with a recognition rate of under 20 percent in the arrival country at the EU’s external border will undergo a fast procedure under detention-like conditions. The border procedure will last 12 weeks. If the protection application is rejected, the affected individuals are to be deported as soon as possible, at the latest after 12 further weeks.
Minister Boka stated that the EU is violating the interests of a majority of Hungarian voters with the plan. Boka said, “The state and government heads had agreed in the past that essential questions in migration policy would be adopted unanimously – even if a qualified majority is formally sufficient. This agreement has not been upheld in the case of the fast border procedures.”
Although Hungary voted against, it was overruled. “Now, no one should be surprised that we are not prepared to implement a false policy that would be a heavy burden for the security and order in Hungary” the minister concluded.