EU steps up legal procedure against Hungary for criminalizing support for migrants

Above, migrants wait at an anti-migrant fence on Serbia-Hungary border in 2016. (AFP)
  • Hungary is a landlocked country in central Europe

BRUSSELS: The European Commission said on Thursday it was intensifying its legal procedure against Hungary over Budapest’s criminalizing of support for migrants, moving the case closer to a possible ruling by the European Court of Justice.
“The European Commission has today decided to send a reasoned opinion to Hungary concerning legislation that criminalizes activities that support asylum and residence applications and further restricts the right to request asylum,” the EU executive said in a statement.r