Referendum – Rejection of EU quotas brings new obligations for Hungarian government

Budapest, October 6 (MTI) – The result of last Sunday’s referendum, in which more than 3 million people rejected European Union migrant quotas, has established new obligations for the Hungarian government both at home and abroad, a government official said on Thursday.

As part of fulfilling its obligations at home, the government will submit a constitutional amendment proposal to parliament to reflect the outcome of the vote, Csaba Dömötör, parliamentary cabinet state secretary, said at a press conference.

To meet the government’s international obligations, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has sent a letter to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker notifying him of the referendum’s result, Dömötör added. On Friday, Orbán is scheduled to discuss the result with Robert Fico, the prime minister of EU presidency-holder Slovakia.

Dömötör said the referendum heralded the start of a new process rather than the final act, arguing that migration pressure on Europe was unlikely to ease anytime soon and that Brussels had not withdrawn its migrant quota plan, in spite of Hungary’s referendum outcome. The state secretary added that the quota scheme could soon also end up on the agenda of the European Parliament, with a parliamentary hearing on the plan set to be held as soon as next week.

Dömötör insisted that the Hungarian government would use “any method it can” to get the EC to withdraw its prior decisions regarding the resettlement of migrants across the bloc.

Asked whether there were any polls or analyses released before the referendum that had been “hidden” from Orbán, Dömötör said all members of government had had access to every poll that was released.

Meanwhile, Commenting on recent report by the daily Magyar Idok that some SIM cards purchased by Hungarian criminal organisations may have ended up with terrorists who had collaborated in the Brussels and Paris attacks last year, Dömötör said that the national security cabinet would discuss the reports in greater detail. The paper said the criminals had bought around 200,000 SIMs from Magyar Telekom over the course of several months using the personal details of a homeless person. Dömötör said the national security cabinet would investigate whether the rechargeable SIM card concept had any “loopholes” from a security standpoint that could have exploited by the terrorists.

Commenting on a statement from Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ) saying that it was the prime minister who had ordered an audit of the Norwegian NGO Fund by the Government Control Office (Kehi) two years ago, the state secretary said that only the prime minister or the Prime Minister’s Office were authorised to request such Kehi audits.

Citing the independence of the National Bank of Hungary, Dömötör declined to comment on reports that central bank governor György Matolcsy has been living in an apartment owned by head of the Banking Association and Unicredit Hungary chief Mihály Patai in the Buda Castle district.

Source: MTI