Andras Lederer from the George Soros-backed Hungarian Helsinki Committee has called on the European Union to punish Hungary after accusing the country of engaging in migrant pushbacks in contradiction of a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling.
Mr Lederer criticised the European Commission for inaction over the alleged pushbacks along the Serbian border with Hungary, saying that the central European nation was acting in defiance of an ECJ ruling from December that stated that pushbacks were unlawful.
“It’s not very often in the legal field that things are crystal clear,” Leder told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and added: “But that is the case with ECJ rulings. They are binding, and Hungary must obey and implement them. But the Hungarian government is not doing it.”
Lederer also added that the European Commission should consider punishing the Hungarian government, saying: “It would be possible to impose financial sanctions on Hungary, in the form of significant daily fines, for the non-execution of ECJ rulings.”
“Hungary is not going to give in to pressure from pro-migration forces. We’ll continue to defend the Hungarian people, and the country’s — and EU’s — borders.” https://t.co/vfcnMp8BXw
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 29, 2021
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, an NGO which has benefitted from funding from Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, previously claimed that as many as 4,400 migrants had been pushed back into Serbia since December.
The call to punish Hungary comes just days after the European Union border agency Frontex announced it would be halting operations along the Hungarian-Serbian border due to claims that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government had denied migrants entry.
Hungarian Secretary of State for International Communication and Relations Zoltán Kovács reacted to the Frontex announcement, saying: “Not as if we got a lot of help from Frontex, but it seems Brussels wants to take away even the little bit we did get.”
Hungary is not the only government in the EU to be accused of engaging in pushbacks at its border. Groups like Human Rights Watch have claimed that Greece had expelled thousands of migrants in the Aegean sea.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has also called on the European Union to investigate pushback allegations allegedly recorded by pro-migration NGOs.
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