The showdown between Budapest and Brussels over migration policy and the rule of law is quickly escalating.
The Belgian government on Monday came forcefully against Hungary’s intended plan to bus migrants to Brussels in retaliation for the €200 million fine imposed in June by the European Court of Justice, which Budapest refuses to pay.
“Migration policy is a common challenge that must be tackled in an orderly fashion and with solidarity by all member states,” Hadja Lahbib, Belgium’s foreign minister, said.
Nicole de Moor, the state secretary for asylum and migration, meanwhile warned that should the transfers happen, Belgium will not grant access to “migration flows that are instrumentalised in this way”. Philippe Close, the mayor of Brussels, also decried the plan and demanded Prime Minister Alexander De Croo “block these buses at the border”.
