Hungarian parliament approves referendum on EU migrant quotas

Hungary's parliament gave the green light Tuesday to proceed with a government-initiated referendum on the European Union's (EU) mandatory migrant quotas.

Voters in the country will be asked in the referendum whether they choose to allow the EU to order the mandatory re-settlement in Hungary of non-Hungarians without parliamentary approval.

Antal Rogan, head of the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office, said recently that he envisaged holding the referendum in September or early October.

Hungary's supreme court last Tuesday indirectly ruled in favor of the government referendum when it rejected all appeals against a go-ahead decision made by the National Elections Commission.

Last year the European Parliament voted for a quota system to relocate and resettle asylum seekers among EU states, and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker proposed in September that 160,000 asylum seekers be distributed among EU states under a new migrant quota system.

The EU interior ministers approved the proposal despite objection from Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Last December, Hungary submitted its appeal to the European Court against the EU mandatory quota system. Endi