Electors may adopt a decision at the referendum of 2 October which will have an impact for many long decades, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office stated at a public forum in Székkutas.

„The question is whether we should let the immigrants in, or should continue to protect our borders” against Brussels in the West, and against the immigrants in the South, János Lázár said before an audience of some one hundred in the school of the locality in Csongrád County.

He pointed out that the position of the Hungarian Government is clear: immigrants should be relocated to the countries where the people living there want this.

The politician, who is also Member of Parliament for the constituency, took the view that the Government is not enough for this battle on its own. It needs extra strength which the votes of the electors may supply. If we fail to forge national unity on this question, if the situation is not absolutely clear, a government may come in Hungary sooner or later which will open the borders.

Mr Lázár said that „the succession is endless”, and we must therefore prepare on a long-term basis for having to protect the Serbian and Croatian borders with fences, and the situation may also arise that we may have to do the same on the Romanian border. The problem will not be solved until there are genuine changes in the issuing countries.

The Government decided on the hiring and training of three thousand new police personnel, but the Minister believes that the boosting of the military personnel is likewise inevitable.

In answer to a question, Mr Lázár said that there is no realistic chance up to 2020 for Brussels to revoke or slow down the payment of European funds in response to the referendum. One of the reasons being that 65 per cent of the calls for proposals have already been released, but it also plays a part that some 60 per cent of the total amount awarded to projects – for instance, funds used for the procurement of machinery – flows back to Western-Europe.

Mayor István Szél (Fidesz) stressed that Hungary will be the first EU Member State where the electors may state their opinion on the mandatory resettlement scheme. The more than 1,800 residents of the locality who are eligible to vote will have to decide whether they want immigrants to be moved to their immediate environment at any time.

(MTI)