Hungarian parliament rejects refugee ban

Hungary’s parliament today narrowly voted down a plan by Prime Minister Viktor Orban to reject EU quotas for accepting refugees, a setback for the maverick leader that could weaken him in a long-running fight with Brussels.

In a rare parliamentary defeat for Orban, his proposed constitutional amendment to ban the resettlement of migrants in Hungary won only 131 votes in the 199-seat parliament, just short of the necessary two-thirds majority of 133.

Orban’s determination to keep out migrants and refugees, including by building razor-wire border fences, has angered his fellow European Union leaders and complicated their task as the EU struggles to cope with an influx of 1.4 million people since the start of 2015, many fleeing conflicts like the war in Syria.

The far-right Jobbik party sealed the bill’s rejection by boycotting the vote. But it held out a lifeline to Orban by saying it would throw its support behind the ban if he scrapped a separate scheme allowing foreigners to buy residency rights.

Backing down to Jobbik would be politically difficult for the prime minister. Orban’s right-wing Fidesz party said its leadership would meet to discuss its next move.

“As for Jobbik’s ideas, we maintain what we said before: there is no room for political blackmail in case of a national issue,” government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said in an email to Reuters. “We will be able to talk about further steps in light of the decisions made by Fidesz’s presidency.”