On Saturday, the Government said thank you to every citizen who took part in the National Consultation, and who according to the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister’s Parliamentary State Secretary Csaba Dömötör reinforced democratic dialogue in Hungary by doing so.
At a press conference held in Budapest, Mr. Dömötör said well in excess of 2 million people had taken the trouble to fill out the National Consultation questionnaire and return it by post or via the internet by Friday’s deadline, making the current Consultation by far the most successful ever held.
According to the State Secretary, thanks is equally due to those who took part in the execution of the National Consultation. Mr. Dömötör thanked workers who were involved in the delivery, printing and shipping of National Consultation letters, and who are currently involved in the processing and evaluation of the returned questionnaires. They are particularly worthy of recognition in view of the fact that certain opposition parties called their work into question, he noted.
The processing of the questionnaires will continue over the upcoming days and the Government will be providing detailed information on the final participation figures next week, after which it will publish the results, Mr. Dömötör explained, adding that according to Friday’s figures 2,301,463 people had taken part in the National Consultation including 175 thousand via the internet.
According to the State Secretary, the reason that well over 2 million people had been moved to take part in the Consultation was that the issue in question is one that affects everyone, regardless of party affiliation.
“Because what is at stake is whether or not Hungary will become an immigrant country; what is at stake is whether strategic spheres of competence can be taken away from us or whether we will succeed in keeping these under our control”, the Cabinet representative said, adding: “What is at stake is whether we can reinforce Hungary’s security, and ultimately the security of Europe”.
Mr. Dömötör also spoke about the fact that although the deadline for submitting the National Consultation questionnaires had expired, the majority of the political battle is yet to come, and accordingly there is a greater needed than ever before to take a strong and unified stand, stressing that EU institutions have begun to implement the resettlements plans, and in their most dangerous form.
“They want a mandatory and permanent resettlement programme, and with no upper threshold”, the State Secretary said, adding that what we can expect can be clearly seen from the European Parliament’s 16 November decision.
According to Mr. Dömötör, it has become clear that countries that do not want to participate in the resettlement programme are being targeted politically, and accordingly Hungary is also the focus of major attacks.
This is what next week’s European Parliament hearing, threats concerning the withdrawal of EU funding, and “the campaign launched a few days ago by George Soros” are all about, he said.
The State Secretary underlined that although the results of the National Consultation are still to be evaluated, they will most certainly serve as a guideline for all participants of Hungarian public life. “We believe that such consultations play an important role in establishing points of agreement on determining issues such as immigration”, Mr. Dömötör said.
“We also believe that if certain Brussels leaders had dared to ask European citizens about immigration, they would not be insisting on the current dead-end plans”, he highlighted. “They would not be thinking in terms of quotas and resettlement, but in terms of reinforcing our borders”, he added.
In reply to a question, Mr. Dömötör said that instead of putting forward convincing arguments, Brussels’ and Hungarian opposition politicians who support the resettlement programme are attacking the freedom of expression intrinsic to drives such as the National Consultation.
Also in response to a question, the State Secretary said that according to the Government, George Soros has entered the Hungarian election campaign with his recent statement, and as a result has refuted claims that no “Soros Plan” exists.