Leftist opposition parties accuse govt of seeking exit from EU

Budapest, June 30 (MTI) – Recent remarks by the government office chief reveal that the government aims at steering Hungary out of the European Union, Socialist MEP István Ujhelyi said in a statement on Thursday.

The leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) said that the government would seek authorisation to quit the EU through Hungary’s quota referendum in the autumn.

Earlier in the day, János Lázár said in connection with Brexit that he, too, could not “vote in support of continued membership full-heartedly” and voiced disapproval of “what happens in Brussels”. He added that the EU’s institutions were doing more harm to the European cause than they promoted resolution of the community’s problems.

Ujhelyi called Lázár’s remarks “appalling” and noted that Lázár himself was in charge of distributing “thousands of billions of forints” in EU subsidies to the country.

Lázár’s words cannot be taken as a private opinion and if his vision of Hungary’s future is that of a country outside the EU, he must resign from his post, Ujhelyi said.

DK’s executive vice chair Csaba Molnár said in a statement that the government could use the quota referendum as an excuse to leave the EU, and called on voters to stay away from the upcoming vote. Boycotting the referendum will be equal to voting remain, he insisted.

The opposition Együtt said Lázár’s remarks revealed the ruling “Fidesz’s real plan” which is to steer Hungary out of the EU. The real purpose of the planned quota referendum is to weaken the European Union and steer Hungary out of Europe, the party said in a statement.

Source: mtva.hu