Page 56 - AEI Insights 2018 Vol 4 Issue 1

AEI Insights, Vol 4, Issue 1, 2018

examination of the conflict between international delegation and state sovereignty. (Hathaway,
2008) She highlights that, while international treaties limit state sovereignty, the criticism of
this trend often neglects to discuss the benefits of international cooperation such treaties make
possible. Essentially, the argument is that states voluntarily accept some foreign interference
in exchange for the benefits of international cooperation. Unfortunately, such a view is not
represented in the Government’s approach to sovereignty which boils down to the
colloquialism of ‘my way or the highway’.

One challenge for discussing this particular case is that much of the discussion focusing on the
conflict between national sovereignty and what Kyl, Feith and Fonte (2013) describes as a
‘transnationalist challenge’ is concerned about entering into agreements. This is not the case in
this particular scenario as Hungary has willingly and voluntarily entered the agreements
already with seemingly little concern of how they will affect its sovereignty, hence this case
falls beyond the limits of the typical discussion on U.S. sovereignty and Washington’s
unwillingness to enter into certain international agreements. The case of Hungary is more
reminiscent of the trend shown by Donohoe (2013): attitudes towards what constitute
acceptable limits on sovereignty change over time. One could reason that such trends are
motivated by waning and waxing optimism towards the utility of such arrangements, especially
when the – sometimes unanticipated – costs of these arrangements materialize.

In the particular case of Hungary one would be hard-pressed to prove that Hungarian
sovereignty has been violated. Rather, the issue at hand concerns Budapest honouring its
international obligations. Hungary has voluntarily joined both the relevant UN Conventions
and the European Union. As part of the process Hungary has been aware of the both the benefits
and the obligations associated with the agreements. The current refugee crisis is not
qualitatively different from issues covered by relevant UN conventions and the Dublin process,
merely differ in scale. Thus, Hungary’s obligations remain the same. The threatened EU
infringement process is not as much a coercive influence to force Hungary to do something
new as an expression of Brussels expectation for Hungary to do something it has already agreed
to. Focusing on the refugee issue prevailing international law is clear: The 1951 UN Refugee
Convention and the 1967 UN Refugee Convention requires the European Union and Hungary
to process asylum seekers. The Dublin Process established the method for this on a continent-
wide scale and is binding to members of the European Union as it is a result of a common
decision. Under the process Hungary is obliged to (a) process asylum seekers arriving into the
country and (b) comply with the resettlement of refugees across Europe or monetarily
contribute to exempt itself from that. This is not a matter of opinion, this a matter of existing
international law.

The argument that Hungarian sovereignty is under attack is further undermined by the fact that
the Government has the sovereign authority to withdraw from all relevant agreements if it feels
that the obligations imposed by these treaties no longer correspond to the country’s interests,
assuming that that it can muster sufficient support for such a step in the Hungarian Parliament
– in which the Government enjoys a majority. The BREXIT sought after by London creates a
clear precedent that if a country no longer feels that EU membership is in its best interest, then
there is a process to exit the Union. Hungary is free to pursue its own ‘HUXIT’, regardless of
how terrible the acronym is. However, it is clear that the current FIDESZ Government shows
little interest in an actual exit from the European Union, which would likely turn out to be a
disaster for the country. EU membership has conferred significant benefits to Hungary and the
Government is eager to preserve these. Furthermore, any such move would likely encounter

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