Under the “authorisation granted” by the referendum, the government will “fight hard” in Brussels to remove European decisions aimed at resettlement quotas, Szijjártó said.

He said the referendum had conveyed the “obvious” message that “the will of European people cannot be overlooked and no one should make contrary policies in Brussels or elsewhere”.

“The position of Hungarian voters was very clear on Sunday,” the minister added.

Answering a question about the impact of the referendum on migrants staying in Serbia, Szijjártó said the situation had slipped out of control and migrants had become “uncontrollably aggressive” last year amid “ambiguous messages” from western Europe.

“Immigrants and people smugglers will be ready to misunderstand such messages,” Szijjártó said, adding that if migrants “set off” for Hungary, the border is protected.

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

MTI photo: KKM