Special parliament session on ‘secretly accepted’ refugees fails to reach quorum

A special session of parliament initiated by opposition Jobbik to debate the “secret acceptance” of 2,300 refugees in the last three years failed to reach quorum on Tuesday because lawmakers of the ruling alliance boycotted the session.

Jobbik leader Gábor Vona said in the session that Fidesz’s migration policy had “collapsed” and that the ruling party was incapable of protecting Hungary.

The Jobbik leader cited deputy state secretary Kristóf Altusz as saying in an interview to a Maltese newspaper that Hungary had taken in some 1,300 refugees last year and accused the government of having lied for the past three years. “Fidesz is the government of relocation,” Vona said, adding that the government’s “Stop Soros” bill was being set up as a means to attack civil groups which the government used to support.

In his rebuttal, Csaba Dömötör, state secretary at the prime minister’s cabinet, said Hungary had not taken in a single migrant and any report that says otherwise is “fake news”. He insisted that only the opposition wanted to resettle migrants in Hungary.

Green opposition LMP’s Bernadett Szél called on the ruling parties to account for their absence from the session.

She also called on Speaker of Parliament László Kövér to comment on the insistence of Szilárd Németh, the Fidesz deputy head of parliament’s national security committee, that she constitutes a national security risk.