Hungary to sue European Commission for reimbursement of border protection costs

Hungary plans to sue the European Commission for reimbursement of approximately €2 billion in costs incurred for protecting the EU's external border, according to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás.

"We are ready to sue the European Commission after it reimbursed partially or in full the costs incurred by other member states protecting the Schengen border," Gergely Gulyás said on Thursday, News.Az reports citing foreign media.

"Hungary has spent two billion euros on protecting the Schengen border in the past years without getting any meaningful contribution whatsoever from the EU."

Orbán has displayed a sense of vindication after Germany on Monday announced plans to impose tighter checks at all of its land borders in what it called an attempt to tackle irregular migration.

The controls within what is normally a wide area of free movement—the European Schengen zone—will start on September 16 and initially last for six months in a shift from Berlin's previous open-door policy.

"We can see that there are changes in Europe," Gulyás said. "In 2015, the Hungarian Prime Minister was the first to clearly say that unless the EU enforces community law and the Schengen Agreement... then Schengen will collapse."

Gulyás said the decision by Berlin to impose border controls from Monday means that Germany was destroying the free movement area within the EU.

"First it destroyed it by not making EU member states efficiently protect the external border, and now it is destroying it by imposing internal border controls."

News.Az