Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has vowed “the real battle is only just beginning”, as the Court of Justice of the European Union demands that Budapest allow Brussels to settle migrants in Central Europe.
Szijjártó made his comments in response to the EU court throwing out a joint challenge by Hungary and Slovakia to a European Commission scheme to forcibly redistribute some 120,000 migrants based in the EU border countries.
The so-called migrant quotas were opposed by Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Romania, and later repudiated by Poland — but rammed through via the controversial Qualified Majority Voting system.
“The decision was not a legal or professional one but a political one,” Szijjártó railed, declaring that EU politics had “raped European law and European values”.
Forced EU 'solidarity' https://t.co/ZQXU0ces5i
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 7, 2017
“The European Commission supports one thing: illegal immigration, but not border protection and defence,” Szijjártó continued, in a blistering attack against the EU’s unelected quasi-government, which acts as both executive and as sole initiator of EU-wide legislation.
He said the EU court’s ruling “asserts the power of the European Commission over EU member-states. This is unacceptable, and we shall do everything possible to protect the country.
“The real battle is only just beginning, and Hungary will be making use of all opportunities for legal redress to ensure that nobody can be relocated to Hungary against the wishes of the Hungarian people.”
The EU Forces Migrant Quotas With Qualified Majority Voting, You Should Know What That Is.. http://t.co/SDDpo2FOcu pic.twitter.com/pQdb6XtLhH
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 22, 2015
Hungary will be looking to the rest of the Visegrád — a conservative-leaning bloc comprised of Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland — for support in its ongoing struggle with Brussels.
Prime Minister of Poland Beata Szydło has said she “expected” the ruling, but insisted it will “not change the position of the Polish government in terms of migration policy”, according to a report by the Frankfurter Rundschau — which believes Hungary and Poland may simply ignore the EU court.
This would set the stage for a sharp escalation in hostilities between the EU and its recalcitrant Central European members, with Brussels attempting to inflict large fines or other punishments for failure to comply with its diktats.
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