Prime Minister Vktor Orbán has revealed that his government will fight the European Union’s migrant resettlement quotas in Brussels, using Hungary’s existing constitution after declaring he won't push for a constitutional amendment.
The Hungarian government will not resubmit a law to ban the European Union's migrant quotas after parliament narrowly rejected the plan this week.
“We tried to put this into the constitution, but could not achieve this, as the opposition sided with Brussels,” the prime minister said in an interview on Kossuth Radio.
PM Orbán had said the amendment was needed to honor an October referendum, in which more than 3 million Hungarians, an overwhelming majority of those who voted, rejected EU quotas stipulating how many migrants member states must accept.
Reuters reports that the far-right opposition Jobbik party sealed the bill’s rejection by boycotting the vote on Tuesday. It said it would throw its support behind the ban if the government scrapped their residency bond scheme that allows foreigners to buy residency rights.