Foto: Image Images/H.Galuschka

The EU Court of Justice reached a verdict on June 26, 2023 that Hungary violated Art. 6 of the EU Directive 2013/32/EU on procedures for the recognition and withdrawal of refugee protection, because the access to the asylum procedure was conditioned by first registering the intention to seek asylum at the Hungarian embassy in Ukraine or Serbia and then receiving an issued permit to actually enter Hungary. In practice, this meant that no one who entered Hungary via the airport or the border could seek asylum in Hungary, but would have to leave the country and express their intention to seek asylum only at the Hungarian embassies in Kiev or Belgrade and only in case of obtaining a permit to enter Hungary to seek asylum, could one really do it!

The Hungarian authorities would arrest people who would land and seek asylum at the Budapest airport, or would cross the fence with Serbia and would automatically transport them to the border with Serbia, deny them the right to seek asylum and actually push people, i.e. pushed back to Serbia.

The court found that such conditioning of refugees to request asylum only with the exclusive permission of the Hungarian authorities outside of Hungary, at only two specific places, meant a violation of efficient, easy and quick access to the asylum procedure and the acquisition of the right to asylum under Article 18 of the EU Charter on Human Rights.