As the European Union pushes ahead with its Migration Pact, Hungary is refusing to give in. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has made it clear he won’t comply, saying he would rather pay daily fines than let migrants into the country under the pact’s terms.
EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner is pushing to end negotiations. “The goal is to implement the pact by June 2026,” Brunner said in interviews. He explained that while he has “good contact” with Poland, Hungary is “a different issue.”
“The plan is a step toward implementation,” Brunner added, stressing that the Commission is ready to act if Hungary doesn’t submit its roadmap. But Hungary is still holding out.
“Hungary will continue to reject the EU migration pact,” Orbán recently said. “It would be cheaper to pay a daily fine of one million euros than to allow migrants into the country.”
Supporting Orbán, FPÖ MEP Petra Steger criticized Brunner’s threats as showing “an increasingly authoritarian and centralist policy of the EU.” She added: “Instead of taking the legitimate concerns of member states like Hungary seriously, the EU relies on pressure and penalties. That is unacceptable.”
Steger praised Hungary’s stance: “Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is defending the interests of his country and rejecting a pact that undermines national control over migration.”
She urged Austria to follow Hungary’s lead. “Our neighbor Hungary is taking the only correct path here—Austria should also suspend implementation of the Migration Pact,” Steger said. In her view, “the pact is not about border protection, but simply the redistribution of mass immigration.”
“It is time for a migration policy that respects the sovereignty of member states and consistently stops illegal migration,” she continued. “Brunner should focus on real solutions instead of threatening penalties, which only serve to heighten existing tensions within the EU.”
