The Hungarian government has decided to close down its transit zones on the Hungarian-Serbian border.
Asylum seekers will now only get to submit their applications at Hungary’s foreign missions. The process of shutting down the transit zones is already under way. Currently, four migrants are being held in detention and 280 will be taken to a refugee reception center. The interior, foreign and justice ministries are taking the necessary steps in the matter.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) last week ruled that keeping asylum seekers in the transit zone constitutes “detention”.
Gergely Gulyás, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office, said yesterday that the transit zones had successfully protected Hungary’s borders, calling the CJEU’s ruling “regrettable”. As Hungary is obliged to comply with the ruling, it is forced to shut down the transit zones, he added.
Commenting on remarks by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, Gulyás said the minister was right to doubt that the European Union could come up with a migrant distribution mechanism that would be backed by all member states. He said this was a “significant win” for Hungarian diplomacy.