- Title: Hungary PM votes in referendum on European Union's migrant quotas
- Date: 2nd October 2016
- Summary: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (OCTOBER 2, 2016) (REUTERS) HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER VIKTOR ORBAN AND HIS WIFE, ANIKO LEVAI, LEAVING VEHICLE AND WALKING INTO POLLING STATION ORBAN WALKING UP TO TABLE WHERE LEVAI IS STANDING ORBAN AND LEVAI RECEIVING BALLOT PAPERS ORBAN AND LEVAI COMING OUT OF VOTING BOOTH AND PUTTING BALLOT PAPERS IN BALLOT BOX ORBAN STANDING AT BOTTOM OF STEPS, PREPARING TO SPEAK TO THE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER, VIKTOR ORBAN, SAYING: "The most important task of next week is for me to go to Brussels and have a talk, and I shall try, with the help of the outcome, if this is an appropriate outcome, to achieve that we should not be obliged to accept people in Hungary whom we don't want to live with." ORBAN ADDRESSING MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER, VIKTOR ORBAN, SAYING: "We are proud that we are the first and unfortunately we are the only one up to now in the European Union who managed to have a referenda on the migrant issue. I would be happy to see other countries to follow but anyway I have some responsibility for the leader of Hungary, not for the other countries of European Union." ORBAN GETTING INTO VEHICLE SURROUNDED BY MEDIA
- Embargoed: 17th October 2016 08:48
- Keywords: Hungary referendum migrants migrant crisis refugees Syria Iraq Afghanistan
- Location: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
- City: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
- Country: Hungary
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00152B9C1Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban casted his vote on Sunday (October 2) in the Hungary referendum over whether to accept the European Union's migrant quotas.
Voters are expected to reject the proposition which should boost the Prime Minister's standing at home and embolden him in his battles with Brussels.
Speaking to media after casting his vote, he said a no vote would give him authority to address the migration issue with Brussels.
"The most important task of next week is for me to go to Brussels and have a talk, and I shall try, with the help of the outcome, if this is an appropriate outcome, to achieve that we should not be obliged to accept people in Hungary whom we don't want to live with," he said.
Speaking in English he added he was proud Hungary was the first EU member to have such a referendum on EU migrant quotas.
Orban, who has been in power since 2010, is among the toughest opponents of immigration in the EU, and over the past year he has sealed Hungary's southern borders with a razor-wire fence and thousands of army and police border patrols.
While last year hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East crossed Hungary on their way to richer countries in Western Europe, this year Hungary recorded around 18,000 illegal border crossings.
In a letter published in a daily newspaper on Saturday, Orban again urged Hungarians to send a message to the EU that its migration policies were flawed and posed a threat to Europe's security.
Opinion polls show support for a rejection of EU migrant quotas of more than 80 percent among those who say they will vote. But they indicate turnout might not necessarily top the 50 percent required for the poll to be valid.
Voting began at 0400 GMT and closes at 1700 GMT. Preliminary results are expected after 1800 GMT. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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