EU Border Agency Suspends Operations In Hungary

Warsaw, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Jan, 2021 ) :The EU border agency on Wednesday said it was suspending all operations in Hungary after a European Court of Justice ruling that heavily criticised the country's asylum system.

"Frontex has suspended all its operational activities on the ground in Hungary," Chris Borowski, a spokesman for Warsaw-based Frontex, told AFP.

"Our common efforts to protect the EU external borders can only be successful if we ensure that our cooperation and activities are fully in line with EU laws," he said.

The European Court of Justice in December found numerous flaws in Hungary's asylum procedures, including the illegal pushback of migrants arriving from Serbia.

It also said laws forbidding asylum seekers to remain in the country throughout their appeal process of appeal were illegal and criticised the detention of migrants in "transit zones".

The EU's Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson tweeted that the Frontex announcement was "welcome".

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), a non-government watchdog, said on Tuesday that Hungary had sent back more than 4,400 migrants since the EU court ruling.

"The Frontex decision is important since Frontex has never suspended its operations," said Andras Lederer from HHC.

Lederer said Frontex had been forced to act since it risked becoming "complicit".