The European Commission has set a deadline of August 19 for Hungary to explain why it has simplified the entry of Russians and Belarusians into its territory. Budapest ignored the deadline, Babel reports.
According to Euractiv, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson sent a letter to her Hungarian counterpart Sandor Pinter in early August asking him to explain the changes made to the country’s immigration policy.
She also emphasized that the issuance of long-term visas and residence permits is an individual matter for EU member states, but added that “such schemes should be carefully balanced so as not to jeopardize the integrity of our common territory without internal border controls and to take due account of potential security implications”.
Although Ylva Johansson asked Budapest to answer the question “no later than August 19,” she later confirmed that no response had been received on time.
On August 15, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden wrote a joint letter to Brussels expressing concern that Hungary’s easing of restrictions could increase security risks for all EU member states.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó responded almost immediately, saying that easing the entry of Russian and Belarusian citizens “does not pose any security risk to the Schengen area,” and calling the opposite statements “just lies”.
