“Protecting the current status quo requires stopping Brussels”. Hungary, he said, would not “give up further powers”, but this was seen as “an anti-EU attitude”.

Orbán vowed to use the outcome of the survey as authorisation to block the distribution of migrants if the EU “forces a settlement programme on Hungary”.

“Hungarian voters don’t want to hand that right over to Brussels,” he said, adding that he would do the same when it came to a European energy union “if it contains stipulations under which the market or Brussels would set the [retail] price of energy”.

Orbán said that 1.7 million people had participated in the national survey, adding that the large number of respondents had indicated that “it is not a country of indifference”.

The survey “strengthens the government’s position and adds to its weight and demonstrates its commitment,” he said.

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

MTI photo: Máthé Zoltán