This Sunday, Hungary’s conservative government held a failed referendum to determine whether the country will abide by the EU’s immigrant resettlement quota. The motion failed as not enough votes were cast, but the overwhelming majority of those who did vote opted to reject the EU's quota.
Unsurprisingly, Hungarians, along with the rest of the world, took to Twitter to share their feelings on the referendum.
Some users pointed out that the money used for the referendum could have been used to help refugees.
For the cost of the #HungaryReferendum, Viktor Orbán could have paid each of the 1,294 refugees €31,000 to train, study or do public works
— Ryan Heath (@PoliticoRyan) October 2, 2016
Others on Twitter demonstrated a clear distaste of the EU plan.
In 1956 Hungarians stood up against the USSR, today 2/10/'16 they stand up against the #EUSSR Brave Hungary! #hungaryreferendum #Orban #EU pic.twitter.com/q95i5xgEyY
— Klimafobie (@klimafobie) October 2, 2016
And some tweeters decided to poke some humor at the situation.
Looks like i need a governor for our Hungarian Oblast.#HungaryReferendum
— Darth Putin (@DarthPutinKGB) October 2, 2016
The referendum was invalidated after the country failed to achieve the needed 50% turnout. However, of the 3.2 million voters (45%) that did cast their ballots, 95% rejected the EU quota.
Under the EU plan, Hungary was responsible for settling 1,300 out of 160,000 asylum seekers currently stranded in Greece and Italy. The Hungarian Civic Alliance, also known by its Hungarian acronym FIDESZ, actively encouraged citizens to vote against allowing the EU to resettle asylum seekers.
This referendum has been widely interpreted as a defiant nationalistic move against the EU in response to attacks conducted by individuals posing as migrants that have plagued many European cities.
DL
