(Euronews) The Belgian government on Monday came forcefully against Hungary’s intended plan to bus migrants to Brussels in retaliation for the €200 million fine imposed in June by the European Court of Justice, which Budapest refuses to pay.
No transfer has yet taken place and it’s unclear when they will happen, if at all.
The announcement “is a provocation that contradicts European obligations,” said Hadja Lahbib, Belgium’s foreign affairs minister. “Migration policy is a common challenge that must be tackled in an orderly fashion and with solidarity by all member states.”
Nicole de Moor, the state secretary for asylum and migration, meanwhile warned that should the transfers happen, Belgium will not grant access to “migration flows that are instrumentalised in this way.”
