Hungary signals it’s serious about sending buses of asylum seekers to EU headquarters

Associated Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s anti-immigrant government is signaling that it is serious about implementing a plan to provide asylum seekers free one-way travel to Brussels. It’s a measure meant to pressure the European Union into relenting on heavy fines against the country for its restrictive asylum policies. At a news conference in the capital Budapest on Friday, State Secretary Bence Rétvári claimed the EU wanted to force Hungary to allow “illegal migrants” across its borders, and said the country would “offer these illegal migrants, voluntarily, free of charge, one-way travel” to the EU headquarters in Belgium. Hungary’s government disagrees with a 200-million euro fine it incurred over asylum procedures, and says it will seek legal action against the fine.