According to the Ministry of Justice’s Parliamentary State Secretary, one of the lessons of the Ahmed H. case is that even with relation to terrorism and illegal border crossing there are organisations that criticise the work of the Hungarian authorities and courts.
European Commission (Press release): Relocation – Commission refers the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to the Court of Justice
The European Commission has today decided to refer the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to the Court of Justice of the EU for non-compliance with their legal obligations on relocation. On 15 June 2017, the Commission launched infringement procedures against the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. The replies provided by the three Member States were not found satisfactory and the Commission decided to move to the next stage of the infringement procedure by sending reasoned opinions on 26 July 2017.
Despite the confirmation by the Court of Justice of the EU of the validity of the relocation scheme in its ruling from the 6 September, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland remain in breach of their legal obligations. The replies received were again found not satisfactory and three countries have given no indication that they will contribute to the implementation of the relocation decision. This is why, the Commission has decided to move to the next stage of the infringement procedure and refer the three Member States to the Court of Justice of the EU. The Council Decisions require Member States to pledge available places for relocation every three months to ensure a swift and orderly relocation procedure. Whereas all other Member States have relocated and pledged in the past months, Hungary has not taken any action at all since the relocation scheme started, Poland has not relocated anyone and not pledged since December 2015. The Czech Republic has not relocated anyone since August 2016 and not made any new pledges for over a year.
European Commission (Press release): Infringements – European Commission refers Hungary to the Court of Justice for its NGO Law
Today, the European Commission is referring Hungary to the Court of Justice of the EU for its law on foreign-funded NGOs. This is the third step in the infringement procedure. It follows the letter of formal notice sent by the Commission on 14 July and the reasoned opinion issued on 4 October this year. The Commission has decided to start legal proceedings against Hungary for failing to fulfil its obligations under the Treaty provisions on the free movement of capital, due to provisions in the NGO Law which indirectly discriminate and disproportionately restrict donations from abroad to civil society organisations. These provisions, which apply by reference to the foreign source of the capital, place a number of administrative formalities and burdens on the recipient of capital and are liable to have a stigmatising effect on both recipients and donors. Thus, they may dissuade people from making donations from abroad to civil society organisations in Hungary. The free movement of capital is one of the four fundamental freedoms of the European Single Market.
European Commission (Press release): Commission steps up infringement against Hungary concerning its asylum law
The European Commission has today decided to move forward on the infringement procedure against Hungary concerning its asylum legislation by sending a reasoned opinion. The Commission initiated the infringement procedure against Hungary in December 2015. Following a series of exchanges both at political and technical level with the Hungarian authorities and the concerns raised by the amendments to the Hungarian asylum law introduced in March this year, the Commission decided to send a complementary letter of formal notice on 17 May 2017. Following the analysis of the reply provided by the Hungarian authorities, and in view of the new legislation adopted by the Hungarian Parliament in October, the Commission will no longer pursue four out of the eleven issues identified in the complementary letter of formal notice. The reply provided by the Hungarian authorities, however, was still found to be unsatisfactory as it failed to address the majority of the concerns. The Commission still considers that the Hungarian legislation does not comply with EU law, in particular Directive 2013/32/EU on Asylum Procedures, Directive 2008/115/EC on Return, Directive 2013/33/EU on Reception Conditions and several provisions of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
HUNGARY: KEY ASYLUM FIGURES AS OF 1 DECEMBER 2017
Satement from George Soros: Rebuttal of the October 9 National Consultation in Hungary
On October 9, 2017, the Hungarian government mailed a national consultation to all eight million eligible Hungarian voters purporting to solicit their opinions about a so-called “Soros Plan.” The statements in the national consultation contain distortions and outright lies that deliberately mislead Hungarians about George Soros’s views on migrants and refugees. Hungarian government officials also falsely claim that George Soros is somehow controlling the European Union decision-making process. In fact, decisions on how to address the migration crisis are made by EU member states and institutions, including the Hungarian government.
TIMELINE OF GOVERNMENTAL ATTACKS AGAINST HUNGARIAN CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS
Rede von Orbán auf dem 27. Parteitag des Fidesz
Auszug aus der Rede:
Reden wir verständlich. Die Migration ist nicht das Ziel, sondern nur das Mittel des Soros-Plans. Millionen von in eine unglückliche Lage geratenen Menschen werden aus Afrika und dem Nahen Osten nach Europa gelockt, ja geradezu hineintransportiert, um die Nationen zu schwächen und der christlichen Kultur den Gnadenstoß zu geben. Sprechen wir auch darüber ehrlich, dass der Soros-Plan auch die Sicherheit unseres Alltags auf schwerwiegende Weise gefährdet. In den Einwanderungsländern Europas sind die Terrortaten häufig geworden, die Kriminalität ist angestiegen und die Gewalt gegenüber Frauen hat sich vervielfacht sowie der Antisemitismus entflammt erneut. Das ist es, was wir verhindern müssen, das ist die Gefahr, vor der wir das Land schützen müssen. Wenn wir also sagen, dass wir Ungarn verteidigen sollen, dann verkünden wir, dass wir unsere Arbeit, unsere Familie, die Sicherheit, die Herrschaft unserer Gesetze, unsere Ergebnisse, die ungarische Kultur verteidigen müssen und wir müssen auch unsere Zukunft verteidigen. Was wir nicht seitens des sowjetischen Reichs toleriert haben, das werden wir auch nicht seitens des Soros-Reiches tolerieren. Wir werden unsere Grenzen schützen, wir werden die Verwirklichung des Soros-Plans verhindern und werden schließlich auch diese Auseinandersetzung gewinnen.
HUNGARIAN REFUGEES OF 1956 AND THE CURRENT REFUGEE CRISIS
I have been thinking about the topic of today’s post for a long time, but it was only in the last couple of days that the threads came together to form a unified whole. 444.hu published an article yesterday with the title “Viktor Orbán’s 100 lies,” which prompted me add one of my own about the Hungarian refugees of 1956. That particular Orbán lie has been bothering me for ages, but I had no time to search for the necessary statistical data to prove that, as usual, Viktor Orbán is either purposely lying or is simply ignorant. Today, however, I got my proof. Népszava published a detailed article about the Hungarian Statistical Office’s originally secret compilation of data on people who left the country after the October 1956 revolution. I should also note that the hysteria over the sighting of alleged migrants that erupted in a village provided an added impetus for me to make some observations about the “good Hungarian refugees” as opposed to the “evil migrants,” a contrast that is often drawn by Fidesz leaders as well as the general population. Finally, there are a couple of telling sentences in a new poll about “the Hungarian dream” that may have some relevance here.
Twitter history of trial monitoring #AhmedH Oct 30th & Nov 2nd 2017
