In 2020 Budapest passed a law saying those wishing to apply for asylum would have to do so from its embassies in Belgrade or Kyiv and it has detained those who have made applications in transit camps between border fences. Last year only 20 applications were made. This policy was denounced as illegal by the European Court whose rulings Budapest has simply ignored. Today, Hungary must surely be experiencing a sense of deja vu after the European Union handed it fines of €200 million for defying EU immigration law, and an additional €1 million per day from now on for refusing to take in “asylum seekers”. Should Hungary exit the European Union ?

