According to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, the will of the people was expressed at Sunday’s referendum and this cannot be disregarded.
At a press conference on Tuesday, held together with his Dutch counterpart, Mr. Szijjártó explained: “No matter how tempting it may be to regard the referendum in a simplified manner, this is something one shouldn’t do, because we cannot disregard the fact that never before have so many voted for a political trend and never before has a political family received such a high level of support than ‘this clear expression of will’ that Hungary should reject the mandatory relocation quota.”
Although it may be true that less than 50 percent of the electorate took part in the referendum, fewer people voted at the last European Parliament elections and the result cannot be ignored, he added. “We will never know why people didn’t vote and left the decision who those who did, so to speak”, he said.
In reply to a question concerning whether the events will have any staff repercussions, Mr. Szijjártó asked “Why should they?” He was not planning any reprisals with regard to staff, and certainly not from a foreign affairs perspective, and he is not aware that anyone else who is in a position to make such decisions was considering doing so, he told the press.
In reply to a question, Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, who was also present at the press conference, said: “Many people in Hungary are worried about what migration actually means and what it means with regard to integration”. “However, there exists a European decision-making system that cannot be changed by a national referendum”, he stated. Nevertheless, he is not in a position to assess what consequences the referendum would have within the EU, he added.
“We must also take into account the fact that voter turnout did not reach 50 percent, meaning the referendum is invalid”, the Dutch Foreign Minister said, adding that immigration causes integration problems everywhere and stressing the importance of the European community of values, solidarity and respect for the rule of law.