European Court of Justice: Orban ‘stop Soros’ law is illegal

The background to the ruling is a lawsuit by the European Union Commission against the 2018 law. It criminalizes activists and NGO workers who help refugees apply for asylum, even though they are likely not eligible for protection under Hungarian standards.

This restricts the right of asylum seekers to “communicate with and receive support from relevant national, international and non-governmental organizations”, says the EU Commission. The Brussels Authority monitors compliance with public law in the international community.

The name is derived from the American billionaire

The judges of the European Court of Justice have found the EU Commission right. The organization said on Tuesday that Hungarian law would limit the rights guaranteed under EU law to those who support people seeking international protection.

The term “Stop Soros” refers to the liberal American billionaire George Soros. The Holocaust survivor from Hungary supports many civic organizations with his humanitarian foundation that helps refugees and asylum seekers. The Hungarian government accuses Soros of bringing large numbers of Muslim immigrants to Europe and attacks Soros with anti-Semitic stereotypes.

The European Court of Justice has already found violations of EU law on several occasions

The EU Commission has sued Hungary several times in the past few years over its asylum rules before the European Court of Justice. The Court of Justice has ruled several times that key parts of Hungary’s asylum policy violate EU law. Among other things, judges ruled last year that Hungarian law, under which an asylum application can be refused if an applicant enters through a “safe transit country”, is illegal.

However, Hungary has not always implemented the provisions to the satisfaction of the EU Commission. Just last week, the authority applied for financial sanctions against Budapest to the European Court of Justice because Hungary did not adequately implement a ruling issued in December last year. At the time, the European Court of Justice found that Hungarian regulations on rules and procedures in transit areas at the Serbian-Hungarian border violate EU law. In particular, Hungary has not yet taken the necessary measures to ensure effective access to asylum procedures, UNHCR said.