Third Orbán Government

During the 2015 European migrant crisis the government initiated the erection of the Hungary-Serbia barrier to block entry of illegal immigrants.[1] Just like the other Visegrád Group leaders, the government was against any compulsory EU long-term quota on redistribution of migrants.[2]

On 24 February 2016 the prime minister announced that the government would hold a Referendum on whether to accept the European Union's proposed mandatory quotas for relocating migrants.[3] He also said it is "no secret that the Hungarian government refuses migrant quotas" and that they will be campaigning for "no" votes. Orbán argued that the quota system would "redraw Hungary's and Europe's ethnic, cultural and religious identity, which no EU organ has the right to do".[4] On 5 May, after examining the legal challenges, the Supreme Court (Kúria) allowed the holding of the referendum.[5]

In the autumn of that year the no vote won with 3,362,224 votes or 98.36% of the total number of votes.

Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People's Party (Hungary) has supported the restriction on Sunday shopping ("free Sunday", as they called) for a long time, citing Christian values. Parliament voted on the issue on December 14, 2014[6] and the law came into effect on March 15, 2015[7] (a Sunday on which shops would have been closed anyway, the day being a public holiday in Hungary). Public opinion was predominantly against the decision. Three polls done in the spring of 2015 registered an opposition of 64% (Szonda Ipsos), 62% (Medián) 59% (Tárki). By the end of May, according to a poll by Medián, 72% of those polled disliked the new law, even the majority of Fidesz-KDNP voters were against it.[8] Opposition parties and private persons tried to start a public referendum several times. By November 2015 there were 16 such attempts, but none of them were approved, for various bureaucratic reasons,[9] until in early 2016 one of these attempts, initiated by the Hungarian Socialist Party, was finally successful. The government, rather than being forced to hold the referendum (which could have been interpreted as a huge success for the opposition party, even though the law was opposed by the majority of Fidesz voters too) lifted the ban in April 2016.[10]

• "Official website of the Hungarian Government".