Hungarian gov't to hold anti-quota referendum

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced that his government decided to call a referendum to reject the European Union's mandatory quota system on the settlement of migrants in Hungary. Many say such a referendum is unconstitutional.

The Prime Minister argued that nobody had asked the European people whether or not they supported mandatory quotas. He claimed Hungarians should be asked about the issue and the question “Do you want to allow the European Union to mandate the resettlement of non-Hungarian citizens to Hungary without the approval of the National Assembly” will be asked.

Several experts noted that such a referndum is unconstitutional as it concerns an issue regulated by international treaties.

Last September, the European Union endorsed the settlemetn of 120,000 refugees in the member countries. Hungary would need to take 1,294 people.