BRUSSELS (AP) — Hungary’s threat to send a bus convoy of migrants to Brussels in protest against European Union policies is unacceptable and would prompt EU retaliatory action, the bloc’s powerful executive branch warned on Tuesday.
Hungary’s anti-immigrant government signaled last week that it is serious about giving migrants free one-way travel to Brussels, a measure meant to pressure the European Commission into dropping heavy fines imposed on Hungary over its restrictive asylum policies.
In June, the European Court of Justice ordered Hungary to pay a fine of 200 million euros ($216 million) for persistently breaking the bloc’s asylum rules, and an additional 1 million euros per day until it brings policies into line with EU law. The government in Budapest is delaying payment.
Asked about Hungary’s plan, commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said: “It is unacceptable.”
“This action, if carried out, would be in clear breach of the EU law, but also it would be in clear breach of the principle of sincere and loyal cooperation, but also of mutual trust,” Hipper told reporters. The commission has its headquarters in the Belgian capital.
“In addition, it will also undermine the security of the Schengen area as a whole,” she said, in reference to the 29-country zone where people and goods can cross borders without document checks.
The commission is in contact with the Hungarian authorities and those in any neighboring countries that the convoy might pass through should it leave.
Traveling overland, the buses would have to cross either France or Germany – which along with Luxembourg and the Netherlands surround Belgium – and possibly other EU member countries like Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia or the Czech Republic.
“We are also standing ready to use all our powers under the treaty to ensure that EU law is respected,” Hipper said. But the most effective step would certainly be for other member countries to stop the buses by reintroducing border checks.
Hipper did not elaborate on what action the commission is able to take, but it is difficult to see what kind of punishment might dissuade Hungary given that the country is already defying a court order to pay 200 million euros in fines.
On Monday, Belgium’s top migration official, Nicole de Moor, said Hungary’s threat “undermines solidarity and cooperation within the Union.” Her office said the Belgian authorities will “not provide access” to any such migrant arrivals.
Hungary's State Secretary Bence Rétvári, right, and National Deputy Chief of Police Janos Kuczik hold a joint press conference at the bus station of Nepliget, Budapest, Hungary, Friday Sept. 6, 2024, backdropped by a row of passenger buses with illuminated signs reading “Röszke-Brussels” — a route that would take migrants from Hungary's southern border with Serbia to the EU headquarters in Belgium. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)
Hungary's State Secretary Bence Rétvári, right, and National Deputy Chief of Police Janos Kuczik hold a joint press conference at the bus station of Nepliget, Budapest, Hungary, Friday Sept. 6, 2024. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)
BANGKOK (AP) — Floods and landslides in Myanmar triggered by last week’s Typhoon Yagi and seasonal monsoon rains have claimed at least 226 lives, with 77 people missing, state-run media reported Tuesday. The new figures push the total number of dead in Southeast Asia from the storm past 500.
The accounting of casualties has been slow, in part due to communication difficulties with the affected areas. Myanmar is wracked by a civil war that began in 2021 after the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Independent analysts believe the ruling military controls much less than half of the country’s territory.
Typhoon Yagi earlier hit Vietnam, northern Thailand and Laos, killing almost 300 people in Vietnam, 42 in Thailand and four in Laos, according to the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance. It said 21 people were killed in the Philippines, with another 26 missing.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said on Monday that an estimated 631,000 people may have been affected by flooding across Myanmar. There were already 3.4 million displaced people in Myanmar at the beginning of September, according to the U.N. refugee agency, mostly because of war and unrest in recent years.
Heavy rains from the typhoon and the seasonal monsoon brought widespread flash floods to Myanmar, especially the central regions of Mandalay, Magway, Bago and the Ayeyarwaddy Delta; the eastern states Shan, Kayah, Kayin and Mon; and the country’s capital, Naypyitaw.
Some flooded areas have started to see water levels recede but others in the Shan and Kayah states remain critical.
More than 160,000 houses have been damaged and 438 temporary relief camps have been opened for more than 160,000 flood victims, Myanma Alinn reported. The military government announced that nearly 240,000 people have been displaced.
Myanma Alinn said 117 government offices and buildings, 1,040 schools, 386 religious buildings, roads, bridges, power towers, and telecom towers were damaged by the floods in 56 townships.
It also said nearly 130,000 animals were killed and more than 259,000 hectares (640,000 acres) of agricultural land were damaged by the floods.
The U.N.’s humanitarian affairs agency said food, drinking water, medicine, clothes, dignity kits, and shelters are urgent needs for the flood victims but alleviation efforts are hampered by blocked roads, damaged bridges and ongoing armed clashes.
Vice Senior Gen. Soe Win, the second-ranking member of Myanmar’s ruling military council, said the country had received relief aid from other countries, and some humanitarian assistance from the Association of Southeast Asia, will arrive soon.
Soe Win, speaking at a meeting of the National Disaster Management Committee on Monday, said that the extent of flooding in the capital was unprecedented, and cleaning and rehabilitation activities in the flooded areas began Thursday as the water level declined.
Myanmar experiences extreme weather during the monsoon virtually every year. In 2008, Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 people around the Irrawaddy River delta. The then-military government was harshly discredited when it delayed acceptance of outside aid.
Flood victims receive relief supplies from a private donor in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
Flood victims take rest at temporary camp opened at monastery in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A chicken stands on wooden beam of a half-submerged building along a flooded road in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A woman looks out at flooded areas in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
Local residents wash clothes along a flooded road in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
