Expert opinion drawn up

SPÖ calls on government to take Hungary to court

The Hungarian head of government Viktor Orban is taking a hard line against refugees - the SPÖ is now calling for legal consequences.(Bild: APA/AFP/Sameer Al-Doumy)

The SPÖ wants the government to take legal action against Hungary at EU level. The reason for this is the neighboring country's restrictive asylum policy, which in the opinion of the Social Democrats violates EU law and places a disproportionate burden on other countries such as Austria. To substantiate this claim, a legal opinion by international law expert Ralph Janik was commissioned, which agrees with the opinion of the SPÖ.

The paper identifies several points in which Hungarian practice contradicts European law. Essentially, it is about Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orban not accepting asylum applications and not cooperating within the framework of the Dublin Agreement. The latter stipulates that the EU country in which the asylum seeker was first registered is responsible for the procedure.

Asylum applications in Hungary "de facto impossible"
In Hungary, just 30 initial applications were accepted last year. The report justifies this by stating that asylum applications on Hungarian soil are now "de facto impossible". In Janik's opinion, Budapest is therefore contradicting EU law. The same applies to him in that refugees are hardly registered in Hungary, which means that they cannot be returned to the country as provided for in the Dublin Agreement. Hungary is in a special position here, as it has an external EU border, meaning that many initial registrations would actually be expected here.

Several options for Austria
Janik recognizes several options for Austria. For example, the government could initiate infringement proceedings with the EU, which could avoid diplomatic upsets. However, there is also the (undiplomatic) option of Austria initiating infringement proceedings itself. Although such a procedure is rare, it has already occurred, for example Austria's action against Germany regarding the car toll. As a third option, the international law expert cites a state complaint to the European Court of Human Rights.