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Hungarians overwhelmingly rejected a referendum that would demand mandatory European Union quotas for relocating migrants on Sunday, but then failed to make sufficient numbers to make the referendum legally binding, according to UPI. Under the quota agreement, Hungary would receive 1,294 migrants seeking asylum, BBC reported.
Voter turnout was 43.7%, according to data published on the Hungarian National Election Office website, short of the 50% participation required to make the referendum valid under Hungarian law.
According to UPI, right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban opposes the plan that would relocate approximately 160,000 migrants and said if Hungary approves the referendum he will resign. In a Sunday evening television address, Orban said the European Union cannot force migration policies on Hungary and vowed to fight any efforts to do so.
“Can a democratic community [the EU] force its will to a member where 92% [of the voters] is against it? I promise, I will do everything so this can never ever happen,” he said.
After casting his own ballot, Orban said, “Hungarians are aware of what is at the stake. And it’s important because it’s not about the will of the government, it’s not the intention of the parliament. It’s the voice and will of the people – that’s most important.”
According to CNN, during the height of the migrant crisis, Hungary became a transit state for those seeking to reach Germany and other EU destinations. To curb the influx, the country sealed its borders with Serbia and Croatia, a measure popular inside Hungary, but criticized by human rights groups.
Here is how the questions is being posed to Hungarian citizens: “Do you want the European Union to be able to mandate the obligatory resettlement of non-Hungarian citizens into Hungary even without the approval of the National Assembly?”