According to a proposal supported by PM MEP Benedek Jávor, certain resources should be left with member states for the management of the refugee crisis, he said.

The government parties are “spreading lies” and are bankrupt of ideas, Tordai said. He insisted that there is no such thing as “forced settlement” and called on Hungarians to boycott the “senseless referendum” on October 2 and attend a demonstration organised by the PM party instead.

Democratic Coalition (DK) deputy chair Péter Niedermüller said in a statement that Dömötör had “lied in the face of voters”. He insisted that the report the EP had adopted contains no more than the body’s position that “a European approach is needed based on solidarity and a just distribution of the burden to resolve the migration and refugee crisis”.

The government-initiated migrant quota referendum is “pointless and expensive”, which will not have any impact on Europe’s refugee policy, he said, and called on voters to boycott the vote. Socialist MEP István Ujhelyi accused Fidesz of using Brussels as a money spigot and eschewing the responsibility that EU membership entails.

The migrant crisis is just “an excuse” for the government to drive Hungary out of the EU, Ujhelyi said. Fidesz is “making every effort” to mislead the public about the real state of the country “through government propaganda” served by a supine media, he insisted, adding that Fidesz rejects European values and even disregards views within the European People’s Party, the bloc to which it belongs.

EPP MEP Elmar Brok, for instance, supported the migrant quota scheme, he added. LMP MEP Tamás Meszerics said that the refugee crisis could be addressed through the quota system, however, “settlement of the issue should be kept a national competency”.

He insisted that “solidarity and a joint, European commitment” was needed with clearly defined conditions. In its report, the EP has asked the European Commission to set up a system to evaluate members in terms of a shared responsibility. He insisted that the EP resolution does not stipulate mandatory settlement.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.