The Minister heading the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister believes that if the attendance rate at the 2 October referendum proves to be high, and the majority vote „no”, Brussels’ plans could be foiled.

Antal Rogán stated on the morning programme of the public service television news channel M1 that the significance of the referendum is enormous. One the one hand, because „the people will give us a sword to fight with in the struggle with Brussels bureaucrats. It is not indifferent how sturdy the weapon that will be forged will be”, he said.

Mr Rogán said: „if many people attend the referendum and the no votes are in a large majority, we shall be given a very powerful weapon so that Hungary may veto the quotas on every front, and may state in no uncertain terms that they will not be able to settle anyone in Hungary with force and compulsion without consulting the Hungarian Parliament and without the decision of the Hungarian Parliament”.

He said he believes that „if the result of the Hungarian referendum is robust, Brussels’ plans could even be foiled because, encouraged by the Hungarian example, protests in a great many EU countries (…) against the mandatory quotas will gain momentum”. This would mean not just the failure of the quotas, but perhaps finally also the revision of the entire European immigration policy, he added.

Mr Rogán stressed: they have to face the fact that the Brussels immigration policy has failed. Immigration must be stopped, the borders must be reinforced, a common defence force must be created, and instead of the mandatory resettlement scheme, those who came here illegally must be taken back to where they came from, he said.

Mr Rogán took the view that Europe, too, should follow the relevant international examples: the borders must be protected, reception centres must be set up outside the borders of the European Union (EU), and fair circumstances must be guaranteed there.

Mr Rogán said on the programme 180 minutes of Kossuth Rádió that the „EU put together a so-called quota package” which would mean mandatory resettlement in the EU Member States. In other words, this would mean the distribution of the some one and a half to two million migrants who came here illegally and are now stuck in the EU as well as those coming in the future, he said.

He added: this would change the ethnic ratios in every country, and perhaps the most in the countries where there are no migrants, such as Hungary.

If the quota referendum proves to be valid and successful, it will be binding not only on the present government, but also on governments to come in the future, Mr Rogán said.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)