EU Commission Refers Prague, Budapest, Warsaw to Court of Justice

Hungary's NGO Law

The European Commission has decided to take Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union over its law on foreign-funded nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

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Hungary has not amended or repealed the contested provisions of the NGO law in compliance with EU legislation, the Commission said, explaining its move to refer the case to the Court of Justice under Article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

A Hungarian law passed in June 2017 stipulates that NGOs, which receive more than 24,000 euros a year from abroad should provide a list of their external sponsors and undergo a special registration as "organizations benefiting from foreign financing," which, in Brussels' point of view, indirectly discriminates and disproportionately restricts donations from abroad to civil society organizations, thus violating the EU legal norms on the free movement of capital.

Hungary's government has repeatedly criticized NGOs, namely those linked to financier and open society campaigner George Soros, of driving a political agenda that supports mass illegal migration into Europe from the Middle East and North Africa, referring to the so-called "Soros plan".

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Prague, Budapest, Warsaw in Defiance of Migrant Quota

On Thursday, the European Commission also made a decision to proceed to the legal actions against the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland as they had failed to comply with their obligations on the relocation of migrants.

"The replies received [from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland] were again found not satisfactory and three countries have given no indication that they will contribute to the implementation of the relocation decision," the statement read.

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The heads of the EU interior ministries adopted the European Commission’s proposal on the distribution of 160,000 undocumented migrants in Italy and Greece, across the European Union under a quota plan in September 2015, which caused resentment among some European countries.

Slovakia, Hungary the Czech Republic and Romania voted against the implementation of the decision in the EU Council and asked the Court of Justice to annul the decision, however the legal actions were dismissed since, according to the EU officials, quota plan was adopted by the EU institutions to effectively respond to the influx of migrants and refugees.

Poland, in turn, has repeatedly declared it would not allow refugees into the country even if the EU Court of Justice urges the country to accept its decision.

Poland to Refrain From Accepting Migrants

Meantime, Warsaw will not agree to take in migrants, even given the fact that the European Commission has an open lawsuit against the country over its failure to meet its obligations under the EU relocation scheme, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Blaszczak was quoted as saying by Polish TV on Thursday.

"This is the issue of our citizens’ security. In some countries, there are Muslim settlements, where people are afraid to leave their homes when it gets dark. As long as I am minister, I will not allow the same to happen in Poland … The government of the Law and Justice [Poland’s ruling political party] assumes that it is not for foreign states, but for the Poles to decide, whom to let in their country," Blaszczak added.

Those who ensure security should not be punished, Blaszczak suggested, assessing the lawsuit's possible consequences for Poland.

"[The EU migrant relocation scheme] is a system, which has not proven effective. It brings threats, and whole cities are deteriorating over it. The communities arriving in Europe are not integrating with local societies — they create basis for terrorism," the interior minister pointed out.

Blaszczak also noted that after communicating with Poles of German and French origin, he had realized that these individuals "may go out for a walk in the evening in Poland, but they cannot do this in German and French cities, because there is real threat there."