Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has dismissed the European Commission's latest refugee initiatives and criticism of his hard-line anti-immigration stance, comparing its actions to the final twitches of a dead frog.
The commission last week referred Hungary to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over asylum policy that allegedly breaches EU law, and launched a new infringement procedure over Mr Orban's crackdown on Hungarian NGOs that help migrants.
Hungary's nationalist government built fences on its southern borders in 2015 to keep out refugees and migrants, and he has led broad opposition in central Europe to an EU scheme for the relocation of refugees around the bloc.
Talking to Hungarian public radio on Friday, Mr Orban said he now simply ignored pronouncements from the European Commission, including its new proposal to pay €6,000 per migrant to EU states that agree to host "controlled centres" for the rapid processing of asylum claims.
The current commission’s “days are numbered” before its mandate expires next May, Mr Orban said, describing its current work as akin to “the last twitches of a frog’s legs in the biological experiments that we watched at school, which no longer meant anything”.
“We need a new commission . . . with a new approach,” he added.
Mr Orban has made clear that he believes anti-immigration parties will make strong gains in May's elections to the European Parliament, and he hopes their position will be reflected in the commission that is subsequently formed.
Rule of law
His populist Fidesz party has faced strong criticism from the commission and rights groups on a range of issues, and is accused of undermining Hungary's democracy and rule of law, but it is yet to face any action from fellow members of the European People's Party, which include Fine Gael.
Mr Orban seems sure that the EPP will not confront Fidesz before the elections, particularly after he and his allies suggested that a rift could prompt them to form a new anti-immigration bloc with like-minded parties from across Europe.
Hungary could face financial sanctions if the ECJ agrees with the commission’s view that the country’s asylum policies breach EU law.
Budapest must also respond to a letter of notice from the commission over its so-called Stop Soros law, named after Hungarian-American liberal philanthropist George Soros, whom Mr Orban accuses of plotting to overwhelm the EU with Muslim migrants.
The law makes it a criminal offence to assist asylum seekers in Hungary – including by offering advice and legal help – and threatens those convicted of the crime with up to one year in jail.
The Hungarian parliament passed the law on last month’s World Refugee Day, alongside legislation banning any “alien population” from being settled in the country, in a bid to prevent the EU sending refugees here.
Hungary also decided this month not to sign a new "global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration", days after it was approved by all UN member nations except the United States.
Budapest said the document would encourage more migration and ignored its dangerous security implications.
