The referendum on the EU quota plan may be held this autumn even if the issue comes before all Hungarian judicial forums, due to petitions by the opposition and other parties, said Pál Völner, Minister of State for Justice in an interview by Magyar Idők online news portal. He presumed that the number of voters at the referendum would match the number of voters at the general elections.

In the article published on 17 March 2016, the Minister of State said that the decision-makers must act in accordance with the opinion of Hungarian citizens, concerning the relocation of migrants. This is one of the reasons why he considers the referendum initiated by the Hungarian Government on the EU quota plan significant. He remarked that this initiative would surely not fail as the procedure had been carefully prepared.

Pál Völner also mentioned that the Government is ready to tackle human smugglers seeking new routes across Hungary. He confirmed that if necessary, the entire border between Romania and Hungary may be physically closed within a short period. However, he warned that the costs of such closure would only be shouldered by the Government if it becomes evident that the fence is the only solution.

(Ministry of Justice)