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REUTERS
BUDAPEST
PRIME Minister Viktor Orban urged Hungarians to reject European Union migrant quotas in a referendum on Sunday, evoking the fear of a militant attack to rally people to the polls in a vote that looks uncertain to reach the required turnout.
Orban has been at the forefront of opposition in Europe to the position taken by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has said Europe had an obligation to take in refugees.
Since last September, when hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East crossed Hungary on their way to richer countries in Western Europe, Orban has sealed the southern border with Serbia and Croatia to migrants with a razor wire fence and around 8,000 army and police.
While opinion polls show support for a rejection of the quotas topping 80 percent among those who say they will vote, they forecast turnout will not top the 50 percent required by the constitution for a referendum to be valid.
Turnout in referendums has historically been lower in referendums than parliamentary elections in the country, and votes on EU and NATO membership also fell short of the 50-percent mark.
Orban said an overwhelming rejection would empower the government to defend the country and fight in Brussels for a change in migration policy, adding he was ready to start negotiations as soon as next week. "If there are more 'no' votes than 'yes' votes, that means Hungarians do not accept the rule which the bureaucrats of the European Commission want to forcefully impose on us," Orban told TV2 late on Thursday.
"The more migrants there are, the greater the risk of terror," he said. "We would like to preserve Hungary a safe country like it is now."
