Hungarian government: Quota referendum needed more than ever

Budapest, July 20 (MTI) – The Hungarian government believes that its planned referendum on EU migrant quotas is now needed more than ever, Antal Rogán, the cabinet chief, said on Wednesday.

At a press conference following a cabinet session convened to discuss the European Commission’s quota scheme, Rogán said the government had reached the standpoint that there was now “a threat of great danger” and that the Brussels proposal would totally deprive member states of their legal powers in the area of refugee and immigration policy.

He added that the commission’s proposal is not simply about the mandatory distribution of migrants among EU member states but also concerned withdrawing from countries their right to judge asylum requests.

Rogán said the commission wanted to set up a jointly run European refugee office in which the “outstretched hands of the Brussels bureaucracy” would assess all asylum and immigration claims and decide on whom to accept before distributing them among the 28 members of the EU.