MSNFri, 30 Sep 2022 10:37 UTC
© DPAFILE PHOTO: Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks at a press conference in Budapest.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced a referendum on the sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU due to the war in Ukraine.
"The sanctions were not decided democratically, but were decided by Brussels bureaucrats and European elites," he said on Monday. "Although Europe's citizens are paying the price, they were not asked," he added.Orbán has been raging for months against the sanctions imposed on Russia, even though Hungary has always voted in favour of the sanctions packages at the Council of the European Union, which has to take these decisions unanimously.
The country, however,
was able to negotiate an exemption from the Russian oil embargo.
As part of a "national consultation," the Hungarian government will be "the first in Europe to ask people about the sanctions on Russia," Orbán said. He did not say when the vote would take place. The right-wing populist often holds "national consultations" to have his policies confirmed, for example in connection with restrictions on the right of asylum.
The results of the surveys have no legally binding consequences.
Comment: If the parties policies are 'confirmed' then it's probably because they, in large part, reflect the will of the people. It's notable that Hungary is one of the few countries to have these kinds of consultations and referenda over significant issues, because elsewhere in Europe politicians daren't, and, if they do, as has been the case with independence or EU membership, they either ignore the results or force citizens to re-vote until they 'get it right'.
Making this an issue of a democratic vote is a smart move by Hungary, because the West is apparently so besotted with its facade of democracy that proof such as this makes it a little harder for the establishment to smear. All the same, its propaganda arms will simply go into overdrive, as they already have
done in Brussels calling Hungary an 'autocracy', or 'not a full democracy'.
Orbán is quite the chess player I hear.