(Bloomberg) -- The European Union said it will deduct €200 million ($222 million) from its next payments to Hungary after the country failed to pay a fine imposed for its asylum policies before the expiration of a Tuesday deadline.
European Commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari told reporters in Brussels Wednesday that the bloc will need some time to identify upcoming payments that can absorb the fine.
The European Court of Justice had ordered Budapest to pay the penalty, along with an extra €1 million daily fine, citing Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s non-compliance with the court’s earlier judgment on the protection of asylum seekers. Hungary, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU until year’s end, has threatened to retaliate by sending migrants who show up at its borders by bus to Brussels.
With far-right parties gaining political strength in several European countries, there is growing pushback against the EU’s new migration and asylum pact. On Tuesday, the Netherlands asked to opt out of the agreement, even though the bloc has said there is no mechanism for such a step.
In June, the EU’s top court said Hungary’s government was “deliberately evading” rules for the treatment of third-country nationals seeking refuge in the country, constituting “a serious threat to the unity of EU law.” According to judges, Hungary had been unlawfully detaining asylum seekers and deporting illegally staying nationals, without following the correct procedure.
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