Hungary has right to hold referendum on migrant quotas: European Union presidency

Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, accused it of seeking to “redraw Hungary and Europe’s ethnic, cultural and religious identity” by imposing refugee quotas.

The referendum will challenge last September’s binding decision by the European Union to relocate 160,000 Syrian refugees across Europe, which was carried despite fierce opposition from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia.

The agency describes Orban as “one of the most outspoken critics of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s welcoming stance towards refugees”, who on Wednesday announced plans for a referendum on European Union plans to create a system of mandatory quotas for migrants. Hungary’s parliament adopted a resolution on November 3 stating the European Commission did not have the legal right to establish a quota system that mandated the number of refugees each member country must take in.

Do you want the European Union to require the compulsory resettlement of non-Hungarian citizens to Hungary without authorization by the Hungarian Parliament?

Hungary has been criticised for erecting a fence previous year along its southern border with Serbia and Croatia to stop the flow of migrants.

His right wing government has rejected the initiative of migrant quotas since the migrant crisis escalated a year ago. “We feel that introducing a settlement quota without the consent of the people is nothing but abuse of power”.

The prime minister said the vote, the first of its kind in Europe, would be a major test of European democracy. Orban hinted he hoped Hungarians would reject the plan.

“We had to think about the potential impact on European politics of such a proposal, but that was a secondary consideration”, he said.

“The Balkan countries and Austria have taken the path of common sense”, Orban told the parliament, referring to the decision of the countries along the Western Balkan migration route to tighten border restrictions.