Belgium on Monday slammed as “unacceptable” a plan by Hungary’s anti-immigration government to send asylum seekers to Brussels, where the European Union is headquartered, on buses.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban — who is staunchly anti-immigration — has been at loggerheads with the EU over migration and refugee policy.
In July, Budapest said it would not pay a 200 million-euro-fine ($220 million) as well as a daily one-million-euro penalty imposed by the European Court of Justice for violating asylum rules, claiming the bloc was exerting “political pressure” on Hungary.
Last week, Hungary showed off yellow buses it said would transport asylum seekers arriving at its southern border with Serbia straight to Brussels and free of cost.
Deputy interior minister Bence Retvari on Friday claimed the EU wanted “to force Hungary to let in illegal migrants who have been intercepted”, adding that Budapest would “offer these illegal migrants a free, voluntary trip to Brussels”.
“If Brussels wants illegal migrants, Brussels can have them,” said Retvari, according to state television.
Belgium’s secretary of state for asylum and migration Nicole de Moor…