Socialist MEP: Government anti-quota ad campaign ‘waste of money’

Budapest, May 14 (MTI) – The government’s latest campaign against the EU’s quota system is “money thrown in the air,” the opposition Socialists said on Saturday, adding that Brussels was “fully aware” of what Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his ruling Fidesz party wanted to achieve.

István Újhelyi, the party’s MEP, said politicians at EU institutions have experienced how the Hungarian government acts like a partner at the negotiation table but obstructs any opportunity later on and presents the European capital as the evil city at home.

Újhelyi said the referendum was “vile” because it does not give answers to issues affecting the community but serves the political purposes of the governing parties while driving Hungary further away from Europe.

The Hungarian government said on Friday it was preparing to launch a campaign presenting the risks of the European Union’s mandatory migrant relocation scheme to the public and “sending a message to Brussels” at the same time. State secretary Bence Tuzson told public news channel M1 that the 4.9 billion forints (EUR 15.5m) the government had estimated as the cost of the referendum does not include the costs of the planned campaign, which will involve radio, TV and community media ads. “Brussels must understand that Europe cannot be turned on its head,” Tuzson said. The continent is made up of independent nation states, and the EU must accept their decision, he added.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters