Orban’s Asylum Policy Breaks EU Law, Top Court Aide Warns
- EU court adviser gives non-binding opinion in EU-Hungary spat
- Case follows separate May ECJ ruling condemning asylum policy
Photographer: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images
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Hungary is breaking European Union law by thwarting asylum seekers, an adviser to the EU’s top court said, just weeks after its judges issued a separate ruling cutting at the heart of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s anti-immigrant policy.
Hungary “failed to fulfill its obligations” under EU law by not ensuring “effective access to the asylum procedure” and by unlawfully detaining applicants in transit zones, Advocate General Priit Pikamaee of the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg said Thursday in a non-binding opinion. Such advisory opinions are usually, but not always, followed by the court.