Brussels shot Hungary in the back over border protection: Premier

BELGRADE, Serbia

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday that Brussels shot Hungary in the back while Budapest is protecting Europe, spending billions on border protection.

“The only answer to that is that we must send away the European leaders who make such decisions,'' Orban told public radio.

He said the European court made “an outrageous decision” by making Hungary pay a daily fine of 6 million forints ($16,251) to Brussels just because it refused to accept migrants.

Orban described the decision as more than shocking and ''absolute nonsense.''

Minister of the Prime Minister's Office Gergely Gulyas told reporters Thursday that Hungary would face a fine for not implementing a ruling, but the European Court of Justice has postponed a decision announcement until June 13.

''We are being fined because of the legal border closure and we would be ordered to pay six million forints a day. This shows the European attitude toward border protection,'' said Gulyas.

He added that although migration is not so much in focus because of the Russian-Ukraine war, the stakes of the unity vote are also that MPs who do not support migration and support the strictest external border protection will get a majority in the European Parliament.